Insights in Public Health: Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of the Prevent Diabetes, Hawai'i Campaign

The Prevent Diabetes, Hawai'i campaign aimed to increase awareness of prediabetes by encouraging adults to take a Diabetes Risk Test and share the results with their doctors or healthcare providers. The campaign was developed based on social marketing principles, and focus groups were used to inform the marketing mix. Television, radio, digital, and print advertisements featured local actor and comedian Frank De Lima, and a website with an online Diabetes Risk Test and resources for patients and providers were promoted in all advertisements. From March 2017 to November 2019, more than 55,000 Hawai'i residents visited the campaign website. Campaign outcomes were assessed through state-added questions to the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Overall, 35.0% of adults said that they remembered seeing or hearing an advertisement featuring Frank De Lima and/or the Prevent Diabetes, Hawai'i message. Five percent of respondents reported taking an online or paper version of the Diabetes Risk Test in the past 12 months, and an additional 19.7% said that they planned to take it. Among those who reported taking the Diabetes Risk Test, 60.2% said they had already spoken to their doctor or other healthcare provider about the test results or risk for type 2 diabetes. The State Department of Health will continue efforts to increase awareness of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, reach priority populations most at risk, and expand availability of evidence-based lifestyle change programs.