Suicide and OHS media campaigns should achieve tangible outcomes

The benefits of advertising are notoriously difficult to quantify unless there is a specific product being promoted.  Advertising about occupational health and safety (OHS) is usually measured in the level of awareness of the viewers with questions such as

• Are you aware of WorkSafe?
• What does WorkSafe do?
• When we mention WorkSafe to you, what do you think of?

But as with wellbeing initiatives, awareness does not always, some would say rarely, generate action; and action that affects real change.

Recently several Australian researchers looked at some of the existing studies around media campaigns on the prevention of suicides.  In this new world of workplace mental health, suicides can be seen as the worst-case consequence of poor psychosocial management.