CityMatCH Messaging PresentationDon Owens d:o

Albuquerque, NM

Sunday, September 21, 2008

don.owenspr@yahoo.com

Mobile: 202-302-5928

What are FRAMES?

• Mental structures that shape the way we see the world.

• Our Goals

• The way we act

• What we determine as good, bad or desirable.

• You cannot see or hear frames because they make up that part of your brain called the “cognitive unconscious”.

Obama’s frames

McCain’s frames

Reframing ‘is’ social change

Reframing:

• Changes the way the public sees the world.

• Changes what counts as common sense.

• Unites people around common values and makes it easier to articulate them.

Examples: “Tax Relief” = “Wasteful Spending” “Healthy Forests” + “Clear Skies Initiatives” = “Burdensome Gov’t” “No Child Left Behind” = “Failing Schools” “Sons and Daughters” = “War in Iraq”

Base Principles of Frames

• When arguing against the other side do not use their language.

• Ideas, Vision, Morals

• Never lead with programs

Myth: The Truth Will Set Us Free

• If we just tell people the facts, since people are rational, they’ll make correct decisions.

• To be accepted the truth must fit people’s frames (If the facts don’t fit the frame, the facts are thrown out and the frame is accepted)

Rules of Framing an Issue

• Recognize where they are successful.

• Don’t think of an elephant.

• The truth alone will not set you free.

• Speak from your moral perspective at all times.

• Most voters vote their identity.

• Think strategically across issue areas.

• Play offense not defense.

• Don’t move to the right.

Messaging• Your message has to be able to be

reduced to a story.

• Everyone’s favorite story involves some essential elements– Meet the Character– Conflict– Propose a Solution– Resolution

The Way Forward

•IDEAS FIRST

•DATA & STATISTICS NEXT

Public Support for MCH?

Voters are looking for political leadershipon children’s issues.

PAES/Invest in Kids Working Group

Lake Research Partners

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Our political leaders are not doing enough to ensure the health, education and well-being of children today?”

Every Child Matters Education Fund: June 2007 (Survey of 623 likely general election voters)

PAES/Invest in Kids Working Group

Pew Weekly News Interest Index Poll: 10/2007 (Survey of 1013 Adults)Lake Research Partners

Over half of the public say they werefollowing the president’s veto of

S-CHIP closely.

As I read a list of some stories covered by news organizations this past week, tellme if you happened to follow each news story very closely, fairly closely, not too closely,

or not at all closely…George (W.) Bush’s veto of a children’s health insurance bill…(If Necessary, ask:) Did you follow…George Bush’s veto of a children’s health insurance

bill very closely, fairly closely, not too closely or not at all closely?

PAES/Invest in Kids Working Group

Americans say that programs and services forinfants and young children should be a priority

for government spending.

I’d like your opinions about different priorities for government spending. Tell me if you considerEach of the following areas a top priority for government spending, important, but not a top

Priority, or not too important? In your opinion, are…programs and services for infants and youngChildren a top priority for government spending, important, but not a top priority, or not too

important?

AARP: 3/2004 (Survey of 1594 Adults Lake Research Partners

• Voters support children’s issues, but creating intensity is more difficult.

• Education is a critical component to help increase prominence.

•With a bad economy, the deficit and the war, voters believe we need to set priorities.

•Safety and preparation are powerful frames. Quality and costs are also concerns.

•Women are more likely than men to include children’s issues in their domestic agenda for Congress.

• A national survey showed that 50% thought programs and services for infants should be a top priority. 41% thought them important but not a top priority. (03/2004, AARP, 1013)

•A national survey showed that coverage of S-CHIP was among the top 2 issues nationwide which received ‘too little’ coverage. (10/2007, 1,594, Pew Weekly News Interest)

The Value War• There is more sympathy for parents who have no choice (single mothers, low- wage workers), but these parents often are seen as the exception rather than the rule.

• A real sense that there is no one minding the store .

•Crime, disorder, drug use, arise from mothers not at home (and families not intact) in early, formative years.

• Resentment at perceived materialism of modern dual- income families can be strong, especially among the older generation.

• Make light of these concerns at your peril!

Know Your Stakeholders

Messaging to the Public

• Use soft language and incorporate personal stories.

• Highlight the social benefits for the community.

• Emphasize reduced infant mortality rates begin with education on healthy lifestyles and long-term approaches to community improvement.

Business Leaders/Lawmakers

• Focus on the economic benefits of infant programs, both for the individual and the community.

• Communicate about infant mortality in the context of overall health care reform.

• Stress infant mortality as the foundation for a highly skilled and productive workforce.

Messaging to Evangelicals• Gives children the right start in

life.

• Ensures that more children have an honorable and worthy beginning in life.

• Reducing infant mortality is essential to U.S. Economic development, by ensuring that our future families are healthy and strong.

• Emphasize work with families (complement not replace)

Messaging to Republican Legislators

• We must ensure that women are healthy and ready for pregnancy by promoting increased individual responsibility across the lifespan.

• Pregnancies should be intended—they should be consciously and clearly desired at the time of conception.

• Healthy weight among children and families is a recognized national public health priority.

• The fiscal and societal costs associated with doing too little on maternal and child health today will cost us in the future.

• Political leaders from both parties support healthy weight and perinatal health as proven solutions in health care reform.

Tying Infant Mortality (Elimination) Health Care Reform

• Doctors report that mothers who attend some kind of maternal and child health program are more likely to maintain healthy weight which has a positive impact on birth outcomes.

• America’s obesity concerns often begins with unintended pregnancies.

• The best way to to address the obesity epidemic is to assist and education parents in preventing weight gain before, during and after child birth.

• Children whose mothers maintain healthy weight are better prepared to enter life fit and ready to succeed. (Maternal health and obesity)

Making the Case: Why solutions to reduce infant mortality?

• Improve the health of a woman and you improve the health of a community.

• Maternal child health programs take an informed, sensitive approach to communicate with and educate families.

• The best maternal and child health programs are filled with high-performing, responsive and inclusive professionals.

The Message Box

A message box is used to focus spokespeople on core messages by providing a set of clear

and concise statements backed up with pertinent information. These core messages

should be part of every interview, every publication the organization does, and should

be incorporated into all relevant materials.

Campaign Core Messages

What are we saying about ourselves?

What they saying about themselves?

What are we saying about them?

What are they saying about us?

Pre-K is a Proven Solution

Pre-k is the first step to improving

K-12

Pre-K Benefits All Children

Channeling all of your messaging through one or more key points will keep your efforts focused.

Non-Profit Message Box

Non-Profit Message Box• I. Preschool opportunity for all is a smart investment for our

children and our schools. • II. Children’s early brain growth presents a tremendous

opportunity to lay a strong learning foundation before they start kindergarten. Investment in quality preschool education takes advantage of this time when children are ready and eager to learn.

 .• III. Children who go to quality preschool become stronger readers

in elementary school, lifting a burden off public schools that now struggle to help kids catch up.

• IV. Less than one in five California 4-year-olds has access to quality preschool.

Nationally Focused & Community

Based

Health Care Reform Begins & Ends with Maternal and Child

Health

Research Has Evolved,

Support & Funding Have

Not

Maternal & Child Health

A Review of News

Salt Lake City Tribune (UT)Children having childrenLetter to the Editor09-17-09More than half of these teen moms have been denied reproductive information in their families or communities the only education they receive is after the fact. As a result, the United States seriously leads the developed world in number of unexpected teen pregnancies.http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10491388

Jackson Clarion Ledger (MS)Seminar for those starting a familyStaff Writer09-16-08A lunchtime seminar for couples who may be starting a family soon titled "And Baby Makes Three" will be held at 11:45 a.m. Sept. 23 in Baptist Medical Center's Madison Campus community room. Led by obstetrician/gynecologists Meredith Travelstead, Amanda Nicols and Erica Ory, the seminar will cover topics ranging from preconception care to delivery. An optional $5-per-person lunch will be provided.To register, call the Baptist Health Line at (601) 948-6262 or 1-800-948-6262.http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/HEALTH/809160362/1242/health

Winston-Salem Journal (NC)Infant Mortality RatesEditorial09-15-09The latest infant-mortality rates for the state and region show that there's still a long way to go in saving babies. More people and organizations need to join this crucial fight. Statewide, the infant-mortality rate increased slightly in 2007, up to 8.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births from 8.1 deaths in 2006. Across Northwest North Carolina, some counties had decreases in the rate while others had increases. For a 20-county area that includes all of the Triad and Northwest North Carolina, there was a slight increase, up to 9.2 deaths for every 1,000 births from 9.1 deaths in 2006.http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/sep/15/infant-mortality-rates/

WBNG-TV (NY)Singing for healthy mothers and babiesStaff Writer09-14-09The non-profit organization works toward teen pregnancy prevention, after-birth care, and has a number of family support programs. It has lost a significant amount of state funding this year. Executive Director Sharon Chesna says the concert is crucial to keep programs running. "We do very much focus on pregnant women and healthy babies. And the goal is that all babies are born healthy.”http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/sep/15/infant-mortality-rates/

KXMC-TV (ND)Women’s health conference heldStaff Writer09-15-09(Deb McAvoy - Co-Organizer) "We try to hit something from the neonatal, the OB side, and the women's side. We are looking at smoking and pregnancy, intimate partner violence...which is really important for us as health professionals to understand and know how to help." Numbers for this year's Symposium were up from the past few years at about 125 people for both Thursday and Friday.http://www.kxmc.com/News/274822.asp

Anchorage Daily News (AK)Teen pregnancy in Valley gets reality joltZaz Hollander09-11-09More than half of these teen moms have been denied reproductive information in their families or communities the only education they receive is after the fact. As a result, the United States seriously leads the developed world in number of unexpected teen pregnancies.http://www.kxmc.com/News/274822.asp

Canadian News Service (NAT)McGuinty Government Improving Access To Care And Reducing Wait Times For Kids09-19-09Staff WriterOntario is continuing to improve health care for children and babies with more intensive care unit beds, increased funding for pediatric surgeries and greater support for expectant mothers…"This is all about making sure that parents can rest assured that their kids will get the health Care they need more quickly," said David Caplan, Minister of Health. "Today's investment builds on our commitment to strengthen our health care system by improving access to care and reducing wait times."http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/19/c6339.html

Medical News Today, United KingdomDocs Don't Deliver "No Smoking" Message To Pregnant Women09-10-09Staff WriterWhile everyone knows that smoking is bad for you and that smoking while pregnant is bad for baby, too, pregnant smokers don't receive much help from their physicians to quit smoking, and few quit once they enter prenatal care, according to a new study…The study found that almost half of pregnant New Jersey smokers quit smoking before entry into prenatal care, but that only about 5 percent quit after entering prenatal care. What's worse is that although prenatal care providers asked almost every woman entering prenatal care if they smoke, "only 56.7 percent reported that a provider counseled them to quit smoking," said lead author Van Tong, of the CDC.

The Vancouver Sun, CanadaPregnant women among 78 B.C. residents to contract listeriosis in past 6 yearsPamela Fayerman09-17-08The Maple Leaf outbreak has spurred a flurry of urgent bulletins circulated among health professionals to raise awareness. ..Around the same time, the B.C. Perinatal Health Program issued an alert to health professionals looking after pregnant women with similar information. The advisory warned doctors that if a pregnant woman with symptoms consistent with listeriosis is seen, treatment with antibiotics should begin before tests results are in.http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7c31f309-55ec-44de-944b-04330d3638b8

MedIndia.com, IndiaAustralian Experts Call for Perinatal Mental Health Plan to Reduce Pregnancy DeathsStaff Writer09-17-08Australian experts have called for perinatal mental health plan to reduce pregnancy deaths. More women than previously thought die because of factors surrounding pregnancy or childbirth in New South Wales, research shows. Perinatal refers to whatever occurs in the five months before and in the month after childbirth.http://www.medindia.net/news/Australian-Experts-Call-for-Perinatal-Mental-Health-Plan-to-Reduce-Pregnancy-Deaths-41916-1.htm

Sindh Times, PakistanSuicides by pregnant women, new mothers under-reported Staff Writer09-12-08Nearly twice as many women commit suicide during pregnancy or the time around childbirth than previously thought, according researchers…The results highlighted the significance of perinatal (period shortly before and after birth) mental health, with suicide being the leading cause of indirect death, followed by cardiac disorders. Deaths from accidents and violence are also significant.http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/20011.htm

It is vital that we stay united. It is our values that unite us. We must

learn to articulate those values loud and clear. If we are to win in the future we must present a clear moral vision for the country. We

cannot simply put forth a laundry list of programs.

Closing Thoughts• Don’t just negate your opponent’s claims—

REFRAME THEM.• Be passionate but be calm. Calmness is a

sign that you know what you’re talking about.• By just stating the facts you will not win.

‘Frames’ win debates, facts support frames.• Once your frame is accepted—everything you

say is common sense.• Never answer a question framed from your

opponents point of view.

CityMatCH Messaging Presentation

Don Owens

Albuquerque, NM

Sunday, September 21, 2008

don.owenspr@yahoo.com

Mobile: 202-302-5928