The document discusses a public awareness campaign called The Heart Truth/Red Dress campaign launched by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 2001 to educate women about heart disease risks. It summarizes how the campaign was born out of collaboration between government health experts and nonprofit advocacy groups like WomenHeart. The campaign featured women champions in red dresses to raise awareness that heart disease impacts all women. The document argues that the public-private partnership between government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations maximized the campaign's impact on increasing awareness about women's heart health risks.

2. Chapter 12
Spurring Action on Heart Disease in
Women: How a Nonprofit Can
Strategically Partner with a
Government Campaign

3. Learning Objectives
• Understand the purpose for a public campaign
centered on women’s heart disease and
women’s heart health.
• Trace the beginnings of the cause—a
marketing campaign devoted to women’s heart
health.

4. Learning Objectives
• Describe how a strategic partnership between
the public and private sectors (in particular,
government and nonprofit sectors) and how
this led to a comprehensive approach for
increasing audience penetration and education
and expanding the marketing efforts
• Identify other ways in which formed alliances
serve to benefit their audience and this of the
cause

5. A Cause Waiting for a Campaign
• Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in women
and has been since 1984, yet an AHA survey found
– Only 8% of the female respondents identified heart disease
as their greatest health concern.
– Less than 33% of females identified heart disease as the
leading cause of death.
– Women aged 25 to 44 years indicated they were not well
informed about heart disease.
– More than 70% reported that they had not discussed heart
disease with their doctor (Mosca et al., 2000).

6. A New Decade in Women’s Heart
Health
• At the end of the last decade, individual
advocates and groups began to mobilize
around research and identify needs in response
to this growing health crisis
• In 1999, three survivors of heart disease
founded WomenHeart: The National Coalition
for Women with Heart Disease

7. A New Decade in Women’s Heart
Health
• In March 2001, the NHLBI convened more
than 70 health experts to discuss women’s
health issues, and the outcome of this meeting
was a resounding call for greater public
awareness around women’s heart health
• The Heart Truth/Red Dress national public
awareness campaign to educate women about
their risk for heart disease was born

8. Campaign Design
• “Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear
—It’s the #1 Killer of Women”
• The first public service ad campaign featured
WomenHeart Champions in red dresses to lend
credibility to the cause and to illustrate that the
face of women’s heart disease does indeed
come in all shapes and sizes.

9. The Value of Public—Private
Partnerships
• The importance of this campaign signifies that
combined efforts of the public and private
sectors have a greater impact than any one
organization could achieve alone
– Government participation
– Nonprofit organizations
– Private corporations

10. The Campaign’s Impact
• Awareness of women’s heart disease has increased
57% (NHLBI, 2010)
• Physicians and clinicians now specific clinical
practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of
heart disease in women
• President Barack Obama proclaimed February as
American Heart Month
• Education by all organizations in the fight against
heart disease shows a marked improvement

11. Other Collaborative Efforts
• Heart for Women Act
• 10Q Report
• 9-1-1 Campaign