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November Feature:
Sober Up Before You Hookup
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The holiday season is upon us and for people of all ages that means more socializing and for some it means more "social drinking." Research easily links increased drinking with increased risk for STD transmission. The Sacramento County Sober Up Before You Hookup STD Awareness campaign is an excellent model to address the issue of drinking and STD prevention during the holiday season.
In 2006, Sacramento County DHHS developed the Sober Up Before You Hookup campaign to raise awareness among college students about the connections between alcohol consumption, decision making, and STD transmission. Campaign materials featured the headlines, "Beer Goggles Wear Off. Chlamydia Doesn't," and the words placed on a photo of an empty bed read "They may not stick around in the morning...but gonorrhea will." A third message read, "Hangoevers go away. Herpes Won't." These iconic messages were repeated on posters, palm cards, and displayed on bus shelters and in newspapers.
Posters, handbills, and safer sex packs were distributed to student health centers at local universities and community colleges. Sacramento County DHHS also conducted "bar nights" at two Sacramento area bars frequented by college students. Program staff placed posters in bar restrooms and distributed campaign materials to bar patrons while bartenders served drinks on Sober Up Before You Hookup coasters.
Sacramento County DHHS has also used Sober Up Before You Hookup materials in general audience applications. Print advertisements were published in Outword Magazine (a local LGBT newspaper) and the Sacramento News & Review (an alternative newspaper). In April 2009, special STD Awareness Month bus shelter ads were created and posted at bus stops throughout Sacramento County. The bus shelter ads, which were posted for a minimum of four weeks, reached approximately 816,559 adults 18 or older and were viewed an estimated 10.4 times per person (Clear Channel, Gallop Math Model).
This comprehensive campaign is described on the SWAP site and contains downloadable versions of these products. For more details on this campaign, contact Cynthia Johnston, MPH, Adolescent Health Program Coordinator, County of Sacramento, Department of Health & Human Services Division of Public Health at JohnstonC@SacCounty.net .
To view the Sober Up campaign materials, go to the SWAP material search page and enter sober up in the text box. To get a full range of materials available also use the following key words: alcohol or drugs.
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