Vericom has partnered with Montana State University (MSU) in a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to use ChannelCare healthcare digital signage to communicate the importance of radon testing and drive renters and homeowners alike to purchase radon test kits. Radon is a naturally occurring, cancer-causing radioactive gas and the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US, according to the US Surgeon General. There are ways to reduce radon gas to acceptable levels, but the only way to know the level in your residence is through radon testing. There are no signs associated with the presence of radon.
MSU launched Vericom’s ChannelCare healthcare digital signage in August 2011 at three Women Infant and Children (WIC) centers in rural Montana. The WIC program provides supplemental nutrition to low income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women and children. One of the three locations is a control center, intentionally not disseminating radon-testing information through ChannelCare in order to track the results of communication via digital signage messaging. The messaging provided on ChannelCare high-definition monitors is visually engaging, graphic, and animated. As such, it is appropriate for rural, low-income audiences to help improve health literacy while empowering viewers to take action to preserve their health.
Vericom developed animated video uniquely designed to “demystify” indoor radon exposure for WIC audiences and to create awareness of the importance of radon testing. ChannelCare digital signage radon messages encourage people to purchase subsidized radon test kits at a nearby Environmental Services office. In addition to the radon awareness programming, the WIC centers are playing health education messages from Vericom’s extensive content library that lead people to ask additional questions, attend screenings, sign up for programs, get involved, visit web sites, and more.
”We believe that ChannelCare will help make a difference in the safety of our WIC audiences by increasing the use of radon testing kits. Early results show a dramatic increase in the percentage of visitors purchasing the kits,” says Laura Larsson, Assistant Professor & Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Scholar at Montana State University College of Nursing and leader of the MSU radon study. ChannelCare digital signage is more effective than print material as media-rich, graphically engaging high-definition messages grab attention by appealing to the viewers’ senses—engaging, informing, reminding, and changing behavior. And, unlike print, digital messages can be changed cost-effectively far more frequently and in real time.
ChannelCare healthcare digital signage helps increase retention by ensuring message relevancy. By delivering messages in WIC waiting rooms, ChannelCare provides standard, consistent communication to all audiences. “We are excited about the widespread and sustainable potential of ChannelCare to reach our intended audiences and the impact it will have on getting people to be more proactive in their own health and safety by getting these tests done,” adds Larsson.
Montana State University is a public, land-grant university with an enrollment of more than 14,000 students. It is one of only 108 universities out of more than 4,400 in the US with "very high research activity" as defined by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. With more than $100 million in research expenditures annually, MSU has research strengths in the biomedical and health sciences, energy and the environment.
