Janice's Reflection #3

First and foremost, I would like to thank Stephanie and Liz for taking time out of their busy schedules and becoming private investigators for our group project. Thanks Ladies!

The first few weeks of this course have proven that proper program planning is essential for a successful program. Even when health program developers are in a time crunch, it is still important to plan a program using focus groups. Being able to communicate with those who are in your program's target population will allow you to be open to new ideas that may have not crossed your mind. In addition, focus groups will let you know what will and will not work in your health campaign. It is crucial to remember that when you're marketing your health campaign, what may have worked for one target population may not work for another. For example, at the beginning of our Delish&Nutrish project, we were going to target 4th and 5th graders at an elementary school. That idea has since changed and we are now going to target undergraduate college students that use our campus' dining halls. The change in our target population changes our ideas for marketing a successful health campaign. It is pertinent that we are up to date with technology as college students are usually at the forefront of the newest innovations. Finding the gatekeepers for our project will be important as well, as these individuals will be able to work with us in providing healthier food options at the dining halls.

It will be helpful for our group to find out what existing educational materials are already being used, as this will save time in our planning process. I feel that the marketing portion of our campaign will be fun as these messages will hopefully assist someone in making their behavior change.