Strategic positioning and promotion plan for the hotline
Background
Trinidad and Tobago, India and the Philippines,
hotlines have played a big role in providing basic life
saving information, referral and promoting behavior
change among the general population. The toll free
access and anonymity nature will offer immeasurable
freedom to callers for utilizing the service.
In order to strengthen strategic communication
interventions and increase access, demand and
utilization of services, HCP is providing technical
assistance to CDFU to set up a hotline to provide
telephone counseling, information and referral in the
areas of;- HIV/AIDS, gender based violence, alcohol
abuse and family planning.
One of the priority areas in the Ministry of Health’s
new Health Policy and the Health Sector Strategic
Plan III (HSSPIII) is to deepen health education and
promotion and increase awareness and literacy on
disease prevention and healthy life styles as well as
promoting health seeking behavior among the general
population. With increasing challenges in HIV/AIDS
prevention and treatment, misconceptions and low
utilization of family planning services and high rates of
alcohol abuse and violence against women, a hotline
will be an excellent means of providing accurate
information, increasing awareness and literacy on
disease prevention as well as promoting health
seeking behaviors among the population.
Focus areas
Cubicles of the established hotline call centre at CDFU
This is a result of feedback from several CDFU,
YEAH, HCP and partner’s communication
interventions which have shown that there is limited
access to basic health information on a number of
health areas. The public mainly accesses information
through limited-time radio talk shows that last
between 30 minutes to one hour. Yet sustained
information, counseling and referral increases
awareness enhances behavior change and promotes
health seeking behavior among the target population.
A hotline is a specialized telephone service that
provides an effective way to listen to and counsel
callers, disseminate information, and refer callers to
services and resources for further help.
In countries like South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria,
Mozambique, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Guatemala,
The hotline will focus on four areas that are currently
being implemented by CDFU/YEAH, HCP and other
partner organizations. These include;
i.
HIV/AIDS (prevention, treatment, counseling and
testing, reduction of stigma and discrimination, among
others);
ii.
Gender Based Violence (GBV) with a focus on
Violence Against Women (VAW).
iii.
Alcohol abuse which will provide counseling on health
impact, public safety and appropriate referral to
specialized institutions.
iv.
Family planning with information on family planning
methods, counseling on the benefits, male involvement,
dealing with side effects and referral.
Note: Limiting the number of issues is necessary to focus, build the
capacity of counselors and provide quality counseling.
Page 1 of 3 Objectives of the hotline
i.
Provide telephone counseling, information and
education on HIV/AIDS, gender based violence,
alcohol abuse and family planning.
ii.
Refer callers to appropriate services and therefore
enhance access, demand and utilization of services.
iii.
Collect feedback/data on the reach and impact of
communication campaigns and provide information
for policy formulation, strategy design, planning and
decision making.
Target audience
The primary target will be men and women; youth and
adults between the age group of 18-35 in urban and
peri-urban settings seeking information and services
on HIV/AIDS, gender based violence, family planning
and alcohol abuse. According to the Uganda
Communications Commission, the majority of people
in this category have access to mobile phones and
this will make it easy for them to access the hotline.
18-35 is also the most sexually active age group and
therefore the target audience for most HIV/AIDS,
sexual reproductive health, alcohol abuse and gender
based violence interventions.
The secondary target population will be policy
makers, donors, partner organizations and civil
society organizations that will need hotline information
and statistics on callers, frequently asked questions
and feedback to inform policy and strategy design,
funding and advocacy decisions as well as planning
purposes.
Ownership and management of the hotline
The management of this hotline will be a partnership
between several organizations and institutions,
namely; CDFU/YEAH under the auspices of the
Uganda Aids Commission (UAC) with technical
assistance from HCP and initial funding from USAID.
The hotline will also set up a Technical Advisory
Team (TAT) that will provide strategic direction,
counsel and advisory as well as provide technical
assistance. TAT will be comprised of representatives
from; CDFU/YEAH, HCP, UAC, USAID, MOH, PACE,
MoGLSD, Healing Talk, Uganda Counselors
Association, Uganda Youth Development Link
(UYDL) Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention
(CEDOVIP), Serenity Rehabilitation Centre, MTN
Uganda, Reproductive Health Uganda, Makerere
University Department of Clinical Psychology, among
others. Roles and responsibilities of the Tat will be
discussed during the first TAT meeting.
Management structure of the hotline
HCP
Telecom provider
CDFU/YEAH
Hotline
UAC & TAT
Training Instit’n
Referral
Callers
Promotion and branding of the hotline
CDFU and HCP in consultation with the TAT will
develop a hotline name, logo and slogan. Samples of
these will be discussed and agreed upon during the
first TAT meeting. This will be followed by the design
and development of hotline promotional materials like
brochures, leaflets and stickers.
Launch of the hotline
During the initial 3 months of the hotline operation
(October-December 2009), attention will be focused
on training and capacity building of counselors to
provide the best counseling service and develop/
update referral database, FAQs and develop/pilot
data capturing tools. During this phase, the hotline will
be promoted on specific HCP, CDFU, YEAH and
PACE campaign materials like posters, radio talk
shows and bill boards. The hotline will then be
launched in February 2010 for the general public.
The stakeholders launch will include; media
representatives,
partner
organizations,
TAT
members, development partners and the general
public. The launch will involve the following;-
Page 2 of 3
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Distribution of hotline promotional materials
like stickers, brochures and leaflets
Display of hotline banner
Development and distribution of a press kit
to media organizations
Addressing of a press conference
Distributing D.J mentions on selected
upcountry radio stations
After the launch, HCP, CDFU, YEAH and other
partners will scale up promoting the hotline on their
respective campaign materials on HIV/AIDS, GBV,
alcohol abuse and family planning. The hotline
number, name and logo will be displayed on materials
such as; posters, bill boards, brochures and leaflets,
radio talk shows as well as recorded radio and
television commercials on the above four areas.
Branding guidelines
CDFU with support from HCP and the TAT will
develop branding guidelines that will detail the use of
the hotline logo and name. The guidelines will give
logo specifications, colors, hotline name, positioning
statement and slogan, partners who can promote the
hotline on their activities, topics or issues that can
promoted for the hotline, among others.
Principles, values and norms
The hotline will be characterized with such values as;
professionalism, confidentiality, accessibility, care,
friendliness, trust and empathy. These values will
guide the development of a positioning
statement/slogan that will be reviewed by TAT;•
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Helping men and women live healthier and
happier lives
Healthier and happier relationships
Improved well being/good health/improved health
Improved relationships
Adult health/ healthier lives/ stress-free lives
Meaningful lives/family wellbeing/family health
Talking health/ health link/talk/ living healthy
Health is made at home, among others.
Location of the hotline
The hotline will be located at CDFU/YEAH offices in
Kamokya Plot 58, Kiira road. However due to the
capability of the installed PABX system, additional
remote centers outside CDFU/Kamwokya can be
established when needed.
Geographic coverage
The hotline service is anticipated to be a national
health toll free line located at CDFU but accessible to
all districts and all regions, including hard-to-reach
areas. The hotline is therefore expected to reach all
areas with access to telephone technology and areas
where CDFU/YEAH, HCP and partners materials that
promote the hotline number reach. In the beginning,
emphasis will be put to urban and peri-urban areas
which have more access to telephones but calls from
all areas will be received.
Language
Although the main language of counseling will be
English, counseling will also be provided in other
major languages like; Luganda, Luo, RunyankoreRukiga and Ateso. This will be done during the
process of recruiting counselors to ensure that they
speak English and at least one of the above local
languages. Emphasis will however be given to
English in the first six months of operation to enhance
harmony and quality of counseling.
Hours of Operation
Initially, the hotline’s hours of operation will be from
9:00am – 6:00pm, Monday through Friday to reach
people when they are most likely to call. However, for
the rest of the time and weekends, an answering
machine will inform callers about the hotline’s service
hours and areas of counseling provided. However, as
the hotline starts, the head counselor with
consultations from CDFU, HCP and the TAT will
review the hotline working hours and adjust them
accordingly to suit the needs of callers and
counselor’s welfare.
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