Abstract
BackgroundA major review of Victoria’s ambulance services identified the need to improve public awareness of the role of ambulances as an emergency service. A communications campaign was developed to address this challenge. This research paper expands on an initial evaluation of the campaign by focusing on the long-term behavioural outcomes.MethodsThe behavioural evaluation involved two types of data collection – administrative data (routine collection from various health services) and survey data (cross-sectional community-wide surveys to measure behavioural intentions).ResultsBehavioural intentions for accessing two of the targeted non-emergency services increased after the second phase of the campaign commenced. There was also a significant change in the slope of call trends for emergency ambulances. This decrease is also likely attributed to the second phase of the campaign as significant level effects were identified 3 and 9 months after it commenced.ConclusionsA long-term campaign developed through evidence review, stakeholder consultation and behavioural theory was successful in reducing the number of daily calls requesting an emergency ambulance in Victoria and in increasing intentions to use alternative services. This research highlights the importance of collaborative intervention design along with the importance of implementing a robust monitoring and evaluation framework.
Highlights
Ambulance Victoria (AV), which services Australia’s second most populous state, responds to over 889,000 emergency and non-emergency cases each year [1]
The use of limited Triple Zero and AV resources to deal with non-emergency calls reduces the availability of ambulances to rapidly respond to patients experiencing life-threatening emergencies [4]
As part of a suite of strategies in response to this review, the Victorian Government’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) commissioned a public communications campaign aimed at reducing inappropriate calls to Triple Zero for ambulances and increasing the use of other appropriate health services
Summary
Ambulance Victoria (AV), which services Australia’s second most populous state, responds to over 889,000 emergency and non-emergency cases each year [1]. In 2015, it was identified that calls to the ambulance emergency number, 000 (Triple Zero), were increasing faster than the rate of population growth and that many of these calls were not for a genuine medical emergency [2, 3]. The use of limited Triple Zero and AV resources to deal with non-emergency calls reduces the availability of ambulances to rapidly respond to patients experiencing life-threatening emergencies [4]. As part of a suite of strategies in response to this review, the Victorian Government’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) commissioned a public communications campaign aimed at reducing inappropriate calls to Triple Zero for ambulances and increasing the use of other appropriate health services. This research paper expands on an initial evaluation of the campaign by focusing on the long-term behavioural outcomes
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