Developing a Health Campaign for Mental Health Awareness and Substance Use Prevention in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Designing effective health campaigns requires a thorough understanding of the intended audience. For stigmatized health issues like substance use disorder and mental health disorders, campaigns must be strategic, culturally competent, and evidence based. This manuscript details the process of creating a comprehensive statewide health campaign focused on mental health awareness and substance use prevention in Texas. Methods: This study employs a multifaceted data collection approach. It includes a review of relevant health communication literature and an environmental scan to evaluate existing substance use and mental health campaigns. Two statewide online surveys were conducted with representative samples of Texans (N = 1028; N = 2033) to gauge views on substance use, mental health, risk perceptions, stigma, social connectedness, and prevention and treatment strategies. Additionally, 35 in-depth interviews were conducted with community leaders across Texas (eg, coalition managers, non-profit leaders, healthcare professionals), who then participated in 2 rounds of focus groups to provide feedback on research results. Results: This paper demonstrates how a focus on evidence-based health communication can support a statewide public health campaign. Key insights from multiple rounds of formative research include, but are not limited to, the rise of substance use and mental health issues across Texas following COVID-19, the positive impact of social connection, and the need for substance use and mental health education. The interviews and focus groups with community leaders revealed valuable feedback on proposed campaign messages and their potential impact, leading to refinements based on their input. Conclusion: The findings outline a multi-step, multi-method approach centered on the key elements of health campaign design—an environmental scan, extensive literature reviews, 2 statewide surveys, and interviews and focus groups with community leaders. This process culminates in a creative brief and comprehensive campaign, providing a framework for future researchers to design evidence-based health campaigns.