Health Sciences

Constella's communications strategies and technologies efficiently and effectively provide health information to diverse audiences. We research and identify target audiences to develop key messages, identify appropriate communication channels, and prepare and deliver informative and actionable information to the public through campaigns, inquiry response services, and web-based and print materials. Throughout the process, we monitor and assess performance to make continuous improvements and updates to messages and modes of dissemination.

Specific offerings that Constella provides include:

• Health Promotion and Outreach
• Health Research Writing and Editing
• Public Health Marketing Campaigns
• Public Health Response Centers
• Risk Communications

Selected Projects

• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
• Choose Respect

National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center

Client: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In 1999, the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado brought the issue of youth violence to the attention of the United States. The White House Council on Youth Violence was established and the US federal government began to assume a larger role in prevention activities. A Federal Interagency Working Group was formed with leaders from various federal agencies. This group recommended that all federal resources needed to be coordinated to facilitate the effective provision of information to the public, thus the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (NYVPRC) was created in the fall of 2000.

Constella established and operates the NYVPRC, providing services in the areas of marketing, outreach, and materials development, Web site development, systems development, systems integration, data management, and infrastructure support. Working side by side with the CDC, Constella created a multimedia Web site, produced fact sheets, obtained the buy-in of federal partner agencies, identified and cataloged resources, established tracking systems, set up phone lines, hired and trained staff, created and populated databases, and obtained federal approvals. Then in January 2001, the President announced the new NYVPRC service to the nation, and Constella began responding to the first of what now total thousands of public inquiries about youth violence prevention. Since that time, www.safeyouth.org has evolved from a Web site to a comprehensive one-stop shop featuring fact sheets on more than 40 topics, news items, and continually updated resources and information.

The NYVPRC has garnered well over 18.5 million media impressions to date, and enjoys wide recognition as a valuable resource in youth violence prevention from key stakeholders (e.g., educators, school counselors, law enforcement, healthcare workers), as well as from national and regional media outlets. Constella's senior staff is invited to speak at national conferences on behalf of the CDC, and Constella has won numerous awards for www.safeyouth.org. The NYVPRC received a Presidential Citation from the National Association of School Resource Officers, a National Health Information Award, and was promoted on a popular prime-time television program.

Choose Respect

Client: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The purpose of this task order was to assist CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) with the implementation of a social norms communication initiative, Choose Respect, to address the prevention of intimate partner violence among 11 to 14 year olds. The project aimed to change social norms so that any form of violence between males and females is seen as inappropriate.

Components of this project included developing materials, monitoring and tracking, campaign implementation, project management and coordination, providing technical assistance and training, and conducting public relations and outreach activities. Constella formatively tested and produced a wide variety of health communication and direct-to-consumer materials for the Choose Respect campaign. These materials included video and Internet-based educational materials; radio, television, and print PSAs; cinema promotional items including slide advertising; interactive Web site and community turnkey kits that included audience profiles, recommended strategies, and a menu of creative approaches. Due to the success of the pilots, this campaign was launched nationally in May 2006 in partnership with the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Recently, the CDC received two FREDDIE Awards in honor of a 30-minute documentary Constella produced for the Choose Respect initiative. Sponsored by MediMedia, the annual FREDDIE Awards, affectionately called "the Oscars" of the health and medical community, recognize excellence in documentaries, series, shorts, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and web sites that address health or medical issues for consumers or health care professionals. The award judges, who come from a variety of health and medical backgrounds, evaluate entries on content, educational value, originality, and production quality.

Causing Pain: Real Stories of Dating Abuse and Violence - a documentary Constella produced in partnership with Banyan Communications - received a FREDDIE Award in the behavioral diseases category. The 30-minute film was developed as part of the Choose Respect initiative. The film demystifies the issue of dating abuse for adolescents, using true stories told by teens, parents, and professionals who have either been in or witnessed abusive relationships. They describe their experiences and insights so that teens and parents can recognize and prevent dating abuse in their own lives or in the lives of their loved ones.

Causing Pain also received the prestigious Helen Hayes Award of Distinction, which honors the finest educational entry of the year.