PowerMeA2Z
Statewide Women's Health Campaign | Arizona Department of Health Services
The Challenge
Neural tube birth defects, like spina bifida, can be painful and challenging for families; they can also be prevented by taking vitamins with folic acid prior to getting pregnant. The Arizona Department of Health Services wanted to reduce instances of neural tube birth defects and, in 2013, tasked SUMA with doing so through a statewide public health campaign. SUMA has continued to manage the campaign since its inception to great success.
The Research
SUMA's award-winning campaign, PowerMeA2Z, was developed through qualitative and quantitative research with preconception and interconception women, as well as with healthcare providers, WIC staff, and staff from home visiting programs. Our research findings determined that women were motivated to take multivitamins when they understood the benefits to themselves and their potential pregnancies. The resulting strategy was to offer free multivitamins with folic acid bundled with women's health information. I started contributing to PowerMeA2Z's success when I joined the SUMA team in 2014 by managing the vitamin shipments, conducting focus group research, leading the community outreach team, running the monthly email newsletters, conducting evaluation surveys, analyzing the site's Google Analytics and building Data Studio dashboards to track performance metrics.
The Results
PowerMeA2Z has worked to reduce neural tube birth defects in Arizona by distributing over 250,000 free multivitamins with folic acid through the campaign's educational website (with 200,000+ unique users) and through a network of over 250 outreach partners. We expanded PowerMeA2Z's reach to every county in the state through grassroots partner outreach, purchased media, and social media advertising. SUMA's innovative approach for creating sustainability includes conducting outreach to healthcare providers and teaching them about the campaign. I planned and led five outreach trips during which myself and another staff member visited on average 80 healthcare provider offices in three-day spans. Evaluation data from surveys I conducted indicate that 74% of women who had interacted with PowerMeA2Z made at least one health behavior change.
Awards
PowerMeA2Z was awarded the Arizona Public Health Association's HEMMY Professional Campaign Award in 2013 and was designated a Promising Practice by the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) in 2016.
Get in Touch
Let's do something cool together.
You can reach me at tessa.baker@gmail.com.
