“Know more hepatitis”: CDC’s national education campaign to increase hepatitis C testing among people born between 1945 and 1965

Abstract

In 2012, CDC issued recommendations calling for those born between 1945 and 1965, or baby boomers, to get tested for the hepatitis C virus. To help implement this recommendation, CDC developed “Know More Hepatitis,” a multimedia national education campaign. Guided by behavioral science theories and formative research, the campaign used multiple strategies to reach baby boomers and health-care providers with messages encouraging baby boomers to get tested for hepatitis C. With a limited campaign budget, the “Know More Hepatitis” campaign relied mostly on donated time and space from broadcast and print outlets. Donated placements totaled approximately $14.7 million, which reflected a more than 12-to-1 return on the campaign investment. This effort was supplemented with a small, paid digital advertising campaign. Combining audience impressions from both paid and donated campaign efforts resulted in more than 1.2 billion audience impressions.