Mental Health Advertising Campaign 2022 Post Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET)

Executive Summary

Prepared for Health Canada

Supplier name: Ipsos Public Affairs
Contract Number: HT372-224355
Contract value: $51,453.87 (including applicable taxes)
Award Date: July 13^th, 2022
Delivery Date: March 27^th, 2023
Registration number: POR 014-22

For more information on this report, please contact Health Canada at: hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français

Political neutrality statement

I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Ipsos that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Mike Colledge
President
Ipsos Public Affairs

Mental Health Advertising Campaign 2022 – Post Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET)

Executive Summary

Prepared for Health Canada
Supplier name: Ipsos Public Affairs
March 2023

This public opinion research report presents the methodology of the Mental Health Advertising Campaign 2022 – Post Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET) online survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The survey was conducted with a sample of n=2243 Canadians ages 18+ between March 6^th and March 21^st, 2023.

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Campagne publicitaire sur la santé mentale 2022 - Outil d'évaluation post-campagne publicitaire.

This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Health Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Health Canada at hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca or at:

Communications Branch
Health Canada
200 Eglantine Driveway
AL 1915C, Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Catalogue Number:
H14-437/2023E-PDF

International Standard Book Number (ISBN):
978-0-660-41522-2

Related publications:
(registration number: POR 014-22)

Catalogue Number:
H14-437/2023F-PDF (Final Report, French)

ISBN:
978-0-660-41523-9

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health, 2023

Executive Summary

1. Background

1.1 Summary Statement

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant adverse impacts on the health and well-being of Canadians. Many Canadians have reported increased feelings of stress, anxiety, depression and loneliness, and national surveillance data has shown a rise in drug toxicity deaths and other substance-related harms. To this end, it is critical that Canadians continue to have access to effective resources and tools to support their mental health and wellbeing and are able to obtain reliable information about mental health and substance use. As reflected in Budget 2022, the Government of Canada (GC) is committed to improving the delivery of mental health services and supports to ensure Canadians are able to receive high quality, culturally appropriate care. This includes funding for Health Canada to continue to improve mental health and access to substance use services:

• $140 million over two years, for the Wellness Together Canada portal to continue to provide Canadians with tools and services to support their mental health and well-being.
• $100 million over three years for the Substance Use and Addictions Program to support harm reduction, treatment, and prevention at the community level. By providing appropriate information and resources, the GC can help empower Canadians to take care of their own mental health, and to support others, thereby helping contribute to the well-being of communities.

In a continuous effort to support the mental health of Canadians, Health Canada (HC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) conducted the 2022-23 national COVID-19 Mental Health campaign. The campaign aims to drive audiences to Canad.ca/mental health to motivate interest in and engagement with free resources, tools, and professional support services – including the Wellness Together Canada portal.

The Government of Canada's Policy on Communications and Federal Identity requires the evaluation of advertising campaigns exceeding $1 million in media buy using the Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET). This study was conducted to meet this requirement.

The Mental Health advertising campaign ran from December 19, 2022, until March 31, 2023, and targeted gen pop, with a skew to six at-risk and vulnerable groups of Canadians.

2. Purpose of the Research

2.1 Research Objectives

HC and PHAC are looking to assess the impact of its COVID-19 Mental Health Advertising campaign in raising awareness of the tools and professional support services available through the Canada.ca/mental health. This would be done with a post-campaign survey to see the effect of the communications intervention.

The objectives of the research are as follows:

• Determine if people have seen the advertisements associated with the campaign
• Determine where the ads have been seen
• Measure recall of specific elements of the campaign
• Identify attitudinal and behavioural changes as a result of the advertising campaign

The results of this research will allow HC and PHAC to evaluate the performance of this campaign.

Target Audience

The primary target audience is Canadians 18 years and older. The target audience for the campaign includes six (6) at-risk groups of Canadians:

1. Youth and young adults (a18-34)
2. Parents with school aged children (a5-17)
3. Seniors (a65+)
4. Indigenous Peoples
5. Ethnic and Racialized Populations
6. LGBTQ2+ community who experience a disproportionally higher rate of mental health and substance use issues. According to recent reports, 42 percent of Wellness Together Canada users self-identified as LGBTQ2S+.

3. Methodology

3.1 Online Sample

Respondents for the survey samples were drawn from a trusted Ipsos partner panel vendor, Canadian Viewpoint Inc. The survey was conducted with a sample of n=2,243 Canadians ages 18+. Interviews were conducted in the language of their choice, either English or French.

A pre-test was launched on March 6, 2023, with 48 completes (25 English / 23 French). An open-ended question was asked at the end of the survey where any problems, questions, or unclear questions could be brought to our attention; no issues were flagged. The survey was fully launched and ran between March 7 and March 21, 2023.

Quotas were set to ensure representation by region, age, and gender, according to the latest Census information.

The sampling methodology utilized email invitations and router technology to invite participants. Each participant received a unique URL link. This link could only be used once, with respondents being allowed to pause during completion and return to complete. On average, the online interviews took 10 minutes to complete.

For this study quotas were set to ensure representation by region, age, and gender, according to the latest Census information. Sampling targets were obtained through natural fallout. An oversample of Indigenous (including 140) and 2SLGBTQI+ (including 115) was administered. The unweighted counts from Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ are shown below.