Act Fast – Stroke Campaign
This campaign highlights that strokes are a medical emergency and the public are urged to take the symptoms seriously and call 999 immediately if they notice any single one of them in themselves or others. Stroke is an medical emergency and people are urged to call 999 as soon as possible to prevent long term damage.
The FAST acronym has featured in the advertising for a number of years and is a simple test to help people identify stroke symptoms:
Face – has their face fallen on one side? Can they smile?
Arms – can they raise both arms and keep them there?
Speech – is their speech slurred?
Time to call 999 if you see any one of these signs
Other stroke symptoms people should be aware of include:
- Sudden loss of vision or blurred vision in one or both eyes
- Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- Sudden memory loss or confusion
- Sudden dizziness, unsteadiness or a sudden fall, especially with any of the other symptoms
What worked well in this campaign?
What I think worked well in this campaign is the use of imagery to showcase the symptoms of a stroke happening and having the FAST acronym associated with each visual image makes this very easy to understand for either a young or older target audience as it is easily laid out and very simple to follow. The use of shocking imagery I think works quite well as its the shock factor that attracts peoples attention to look and to remember this campaign. The acronym FAST is also very short and easy to remember across a variety of ages.
What could be improved?
I think the only think that could be improved is having a wider age target audience by using different visuals as these visuals primarily focus on an older demographic which singles out the younger population as young adults and children can also experience having strokes due to different problems, so I personally feel like this should be considered as it cuts out a large demographic.
Make May Purple Campaign
Make May Purple is our Stroke Association fundraising and awareness campaign that coincides with National Stroke Awareness month – May.
Get creative with arts and crafts?
Why not make a photo frame for your loved one to let them you know you’re thinking of them? Create collages or get the kids to draw up their best masterpieces – remember you get bonus points for using as much purple as you can!
Make some tasty treats
We’ve got some tasty and very purple recipes from celebrity chef Rachel Khoo and food writer Anna Jones Or why not make your own purple cupcakes and brownies?
Strike a pose
Share a picture of yourself on social media wearing something purple and tell us why you’re supporting Make May Purple.
Whatever you do, don’t forget to tag us on social media using #MakeMayPurple and let us know what you’re up to!
At the end of May, we’ll create a collage of the different photos showing how you all helped to Make May Purple for stroke.
Please donate if you can
With donations and support from you and your community, we can rebuild even more lives, because we believe that everyone deserves to live the best life they can after stroke.
How your money helps
By getting involved and donating to us, you’ll be playing an invaluable role in supporting our services and helping more people to rebuild their life after stroke. As many of you know, feeling yourself again after a stroke can be a very long and difficult journey. There are enormous challenges, not only for stroke survivors, but for their loved ones too. But with the right support, stroke survivors can begin to rebuild their life, finding the new normal after stroke.
What worked well in this campaign?
This campaign is a great way to raise money for people who have had a stroke and who are recovering from having one. The colour theory works well as they are opposites on the colour wheel so there is contrast and adding the white gives depth.
What could be improved?
There are no first hand experiences/stories of people ho have had strokes and I feel like this would strengthen the campaign even further as it is more emotive but also more personalized as people can get a feel for the people who have suffered from strokes and this will get more people to donate to the cause.
Further Research on Strokes
I carried out even more research on strokes using the websites provided by the clients to get a better understanding of strokes and the statistics that I could possibly use in my work to inform the public.
https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/9-act-fast—stroke/overview
https://www.stroke.org.uk/fundraising/make-may-purple
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/act-fast-campaign
- https://nationalcareassociation.org.uk/news-events/news/act-f-a-s-t-campaign-returns-to-empower-people-to-call-999-at-any-sign-of-a-stroke/p3
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stroke/
- https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-is-stroke/what-are-the-symptoms-of-stroke/why-act-fast
- http://www.srft.nhs.uk/about-us/depts/stroke/recognising-a-stroke/
my learning journal 