Strike before stroke : let's take the first strike against stroke!

Abstract

This paper presents Strike Before Stroke, the first health communications campaign in Singapore that seeks to raise awareness of stroke among young adults aged 25 to 34. While stroke incidence among young adults is on the rise in Singapore, there has not yet been a local health communication campaign addressing this issue. Led by four final-year undergraduates from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, this campaign aims to raise the level of knowledge and perceived susceptibility of young adults towards stroke, and to improve their attitude and uptake towards stroke assessments. Both quantitative and qualitative research were used to assess the stroke literacy and stroke assessment behaviours in young adults.

Guided by communication theories and formative research, a three-phase campaign comprising digital, on-ground and media outreach efforts was developed and executed. Notable creative tactics include the development of an online stroke risk screener, which has been used by 530 users to screen for their stroke risk in just three minutes, as well as an emotional appeal video which achieved a total social media reach of 96,505. In particular, the campaign also received strong media attention, securing 25 media mentions with a total of 3,997,660 media impressions.

The campaign succeeded in raising awareness about stroke among young adults in Singapore and driving improvements in attitudes and behaviours towards stroke risk assessment. The paper concludes with recommendations for future efforts to reduce stroke among young adults in Singapore.