With many in San Diego County facing mental health and substance use challenges, the first goal was to segment the audience to create targeted, authentic behavior change messages for priority populations. At Rescue Agency, our in-house research team conducted focus groups, surveys, and more with a diverse sample in San Diego County to explore the values, attitudes, beliefs, motivations, social norms, and decision-making processes regarding mental health and substance use disorder.

Based on this research, we segmented the audience into two behavioral groups: Supports Others, those who can help loved ones dealing with mental health challenges and substance use disorder, and Needs Support, those who are currently facing these challenges. We then identified the key audiences within each behavioral group based on age, occupation, and other demographic information. As a result, Rescue established several key messaging areas for priority audiences, including:

• How parents and adult mentors can talk to teens about suicide, as well as how to listen to teens when they are discussing mental health concerns.

• How family members, friends, and colleagues can support first responders, frontline workers, and health care workers who are experiencing mental health challenges and substance use disorder.

• How first responders, health care workers, active duty military, and veterans can access resources to address the biggest mental health stressors, such as financial concerns, and where to find support or how to find support for dealing with substance use disorder.

• A long-standing SD HHSA campaign, It’s Up to Us focuses on increasing awareness of mental illness symptoms, warning signs of suicide, and help-seeking. SD HHSA worked with Rescue Agency to address the growing symptoms of anxiety and depression in San Diego County brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic for priority audiences, as well as the signs of substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder.
  
  The expanded It’s Up to Us campaign included tailored messaging in English and Spanish, with a special emphasis on frontline workers overwhelmed by the pandemic and the impacts of social isolation on teen mental health. By implementing new media strategies, our mental health messages reached low-income populations, BIPOC communities, and others disadvantaged by health-related structural inequities.
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• TRADITIONAL MEDIA
  
  The campaign leveraged TV, out-of-home, and radio to reach a wide audience across San Diego County. Broadcast audio ads and keyword-based targeting on Channel Q, a platform dedicated to building the LGBTQ+ community, reached Spanish-preferred speakers within the It’s Up to Us target audience. Partnerships with Telemundo and Univision further promoted campaign resources available in Spanish.
  
  SOCIAL AND DIGITAL MEDIA
  
  Rescue’s social team worked in collaboration with mental health and suicide prevention subject matter experts to ensure responses on It’s Up to Us social media were appropriate, timely, and empathetic. As a result, this campaign sparked meaningful two-way conversations between the audience and the campaign, with the audience sharing personal stories, expressing support for first responders and essential workers, and conveying their support for It’s Up to Us.
  
  INTERACTIVE WEBSITE
  
  All campaign elements directed visitors to the It’s Up to Us interactive website where they can find more information about mental health resources. The website also provided helpful tools for the Supports Others audience to equip them with information about how to talk to loved ones about mental health challenges. Website visitors learned more about the signs of alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder, as well as how to access local resources if they are experiencing these symptoms. The website was available in English, Spanish, Farsi, Tagalog, and Vietnamese to authentically connect with San Diego’s diverse communities.
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