Case Studies

SDHB & ODHB – Vote Fluoride Campaign

Vote Fluoride for healthy teeth

In 2007 Convergence was approached by the Otago and Southland District Health Boards to assist with a public campaign to help secure the ‘yes’ vote on the issue of adding fluoride to water supplies in Southland, Waitaki, Clutha and Central Otago. The four district councils had agreed to hold referenda on fluoridation in tandem with the 2007 local government elections.

District health boards do not exercise any control over the adjustment of fluoride in water or the decision to hold referenda on the issue. Their role is one of approaching and supporting local authorities, then publicly campaigning to promote a ‘yes’ vote. 

In New Zealand district councils are responsible for deciding whether to fluoridate public water supplies or not. A referendum is the most common method of consulting the public on fluoride.

The solution:
Despite the weight of research showing it is a safe and effective method of improving oral health at a public health level, fluoridation is a contentious subject. After conducting research on past national and international campaigns to determine best practice, Convergence recommended implementing a social marketing campaign.

Our philosophical approach was to run a courteous, respectful campaign acknowledging that those opposed have their opinion but that the public is entitled to receive information about the positive effects of fluoridation.

There were considerable challenges working on this project:

The timeframe prevented us undertaking informative market research. So we relied on members of the project team with hands-on dental service experience to identify underlying beliefs and attitudes about fluoridation in Otago and Southland. We also reviewed the results of surveys on people’s opinions on fluoridation undertaken in Ashburton and the West Coast. Assumptions were made that these beliefs and attitudes were likely to be reasonably reflective of those in Otago and Southland, given the regions’ relative socioeconomic and cultural similarities.

The social marketing campaign ran for 12 weeks in the lead up to local authority elections in 2007. The marketing plan utilised five communication strategies:

The key elements of the strategy included extensive efforts at delivering a ‘grass roots’ campaign in each community involved in the referenda.

Convergence identified influentials in each community who could be potential advocates for fluoride. Health professionals were also contacted for their support. They were asked to attend public meetings and we encouraged pro voices to speak to the local media.

Convergence organised numerous radio interviews (using well known dentists, dental nurses and school principals), set up a 24/7 0800 number, organised media briefings, and wrote or co-wrote advertorials, opinion pieces and letters to the Editor with health professionals. We kept a close watch on all media to monitor public opinion and quickly corrected any misinformation.

After a short campaign all councils agreed to hold referenda and the subsequent voting returned a ‘yes’ vote for two districts and a ‘no’ vote for two. This was a good result as the referenda process tends to favour opposing-fluoridation outcomes.

Based on the success of this project, Convergence was approached by the New Zealand School and Community Dental Society and is now advising this organisation.

“Convergence was absolutely brilliant to work with on our regional social marketing campaign. We were very impressed with the quality of their work and the way they worked with our project team, our organisation and community. Right from the outset, they quickly gained a good understanding of our organisation and our project's needs.

Throughout they were all extremely professional. Their exceptional communication, listening and people skills enabled them to quickly become part of our project team. They grasped the complex project subject well and undertook the required research, resulting in a communications plan that was well aligned to our project's vision.

Subsequently, their thorough attention to detail and relationships contributed to our project implementation milestones being met well, on time and on budget. All our dealings and interactions with Convergence have been positive. They are very open and easy to work with. They were very supportive and encouraging of our team and were also very cost conscious – something that was very important to us being a public organisation.”
– Pip Stewart, Group Manager, Otago District Health Board

The following references are from various members of the project team:

“Convergence were key to our success, we could not have done it [the project] without them. They were very efficient and incredibly responsive. Erin kept us focused on our goals; without her it would have just been another DHB project.”

“Convergence included us in the development of the plan. They researched the subject well. Their previous experience with Menz B seemed to give them an immediate knowledge of how to work in health and with us.”

“Convergence brought expertise regarding dealing with and getting the most out of the media. The relationships they had with the media were fantastic; they were always able to contact someone in the media, they knew who to talk to.”