9th February 2009
Department of Health launches new stroke advertising initiative
The Department of Health, together with The Stroke Association, has launched a major three year campaign to promote public awareness of stroke. This new advertising initiative forms part of the National Stroke Strategy, launched by the Department of Health in December 2007. The Strategy resolved to break down the main barrier to progress in stroke care, which is that too few people understand what a stroke is or what to do about it.
The campaign is aimed at those who are most likely to be in contact with someone at risk of a stroke and will encourage them to become ‘stroke savers’ by dramatising the effects of stroke on the brain, emphasising the value of intervention and instilling the need for immediate 999 action. The FAST test, which requires an assessment of three specific signs of stroke, will form the basis of the advertising message.
The first wave of advertising for the public campaign will last for six to eight weeks. Ads will be everywhere from mainstream TV, national radio, national press, women’s weeklies, TV listing magazines and online. Visit www.stroke.org.uk to see the ad and find out more about the campaign and the work of The Stroke Association.
The DH has also agreed in principle to the advertising being adopted by Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Better public understanding of stroke, its symptoms and treating it as a medical emergency will significantly improve the chances of recovery for the 150,000 people who have a stroke every year.