The Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) designed an art contest as part of its Roll Up Your Sleeve campaign, aimed at educating the public about H1N1 flu. The Shoo-Flu-Shoo art contest and resulting calendar was a tool DCH used to engage children in flu prevention and increase awareness among families.
DCH held a statewide art contest in November 2009 for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. The children were asked to draw different images of flu prevention techniques, including hand washing, vaccination, and staying home when sick. The finalists were chosen by DCH staff and the art was posted on their website.
The public learned about the opportunity to vote online for their favorite artwork through e-mails and the news media. Twelve winners were chosen, and their pictures were made into a 2010 calendar. The calendars were distributed to all elementary and middle schools across the state, as well as distributed at vaccination clinics. The winners also were acknowledged in a press release.
With a shelf-life of one year, the calendar has the potential to hang in many classrooms and homes across the state well into the start of the next flu season. Each month focuses on a different prevention method that parents and teachers can use to remind children of the prevention techniques.
Ravae Graham, DCH Public Health Communications Manager, said this was a very successful initiative. She feels that because the calendar's art was created by kids for kids, it may have greater impact. Significant factors in this accomplishment include:
* Involving children, an ACIP target group, by getting them to draw H1N1 prevention methods
* Delivering a final product that school-age children helped to create, and
* Increasing H1N1 prevention awareness among children and creating images that other children could relate to.
In addition to the calendars, artwork submitted through the contest was used for bus ads and check-cashing jackets. DCH also used the pictures on postcards that were sent out to parents reminding them to take their children in for a second dose of vaccine.
