Media Solutions is working with DHCS to provide for the MAT Project, a multi-media, multilingual advertising campaign covering various cities within the state of California, specifically targeting highly affected communities. The media selection includes but is not limited to Television, Radio, Digital Outdoor, Convenience Store Posters, Print and Digital (minimally Search, Display and OTT) in English, Spanish and Chinese. The objective of MAT Media Campaign is to raise awareness, break the stigma, promote recovery, build hope & save lives. It is an opportunity to educate Americans that treatment can enable those with a substance use disorder and/or a mental health condition to live a healthy and rewarding life. The MAT Project is targeted at individuals with substance use disorder and their families, with an emphasis on making connections to treatment. Visit the website ChooseChangeCA.org to learn more about the statewide “Choose Change” campaign, and to find MAT via the Treatment Locator.
This project receives funding from the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Project Highlights
- Lorena Rey, a media coordinator for Media Solutions who works closely with DHCS and the MAT campaign conducted an interview with Edicion Digital CA that aired on Univision in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Bakersfield (see below, video in Spanish).
- Choose Change CA sponsored Bakersfield, Fox26 (KMPH)’s hour long Townhall Event “Fighting Fentanyl”. Over the course of an hour, panelists discussed the current status of the fight against fentanyl, how to better help address the crisis, and challenges that are being faced.
- September is National Recovery Month and to help bring more awareness to MAT we partnered with iHeart Media starting on August 31st with National Overdose Awareness Day and ending on September 30th, International Recovery Day. The month of awareness had statewide ads that ran on streaming audio and podcasts such as “The Happiness Lab with Dr. Lori Santos”.
- During the last quarter of the media campaign, we conducted a brand lift study and had very positive results. Overall, the campaign had a strong impact on perceptions of treatment. After the campaign, respondents were 8% more aware of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), and were more likely to consider it as a treatment option. Participants were 11% more aware of hospitals and 14% more aware of residential programs as treatment settings. And nearly 80% were driven to take action or learn more after being exposed to the campaign. Lastly, there was a 17% increase in awareness for MAT Amongst 18–34-year-olds.
Project Leads
Project Resources
Lorena Rey’s interview in Spanish. Lorna is a media coordinator for Media Solutions who works closely with DHCS and the MAT campaign who conducted an interview with Edicion Digital CA that aired on Univision in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Bakersfield.