POR 004-08
Contract Date: 2008-05-27
HRSDC Elder Abuse Awareness Campaign
Qualitative Research – Executive Summary
July 2008
Submitted to: Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Contract #: G9178-070030/002/CY
Contact : POR-ROP@hrsdc-rhdsc.gc.ca
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
One Nicholas Street
Suite 1400
Ottawa ON K1N 7B7
Tel: 613.241.5802
Fax: 613.241.5460
www.ipsos.ca
«Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français sur demande»
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
Background..................................................................................................................1
Objectives ....................................................................................................................1
Methodology
....................................................................................................................2
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................4
Introduction
Background
Recent media reports have brought the issue of elder abuse to the attention of the
Canadian public. Elder abuse can include physical, sexual, emotional/psychological,
and/or financial/material abuse.
On October 16
th
, 2007, the Speech from the Throne indicated that the Government of
Canada would introduce new measures to address elder abuse as part of its commitment
to a safe and secure Canada. The Government responded by announcing in Budget
2008 an overall investment of $13.3 million over three years, intended to help raise
awareness of issues surrounding elder abuse, along with providing vulnerable seniors
with appropriate assistance if they are affected. A significant portion of this investment
has been allocated to supporting the advertising component of the awareness campaign.
The goal is to create a campaign that raises the awareness of elder abuse as a subject of
concern to all Canadians and, especially, Canadians over the age of 65.
Accordingly, three advertising concepts were developed and pre-tested by Ipsos Reid in
order to identify the strongest concepts, as well as to test for any particularly negative
resonances.
More specifically, focus group research was intended to evaluate the advertising concepts
on the basis of the effectiveness of their messages and visuals; their overall impact; and
the appropriateness of their content and messaging in relation to the stated objectives of
the Government of Canada in developing this campaign.
Objectives
The research objectives for this study were to evaluate the advertising concepts against
the overall objectives of the advertising campaign, which are:
•
First, to raise the level of general public awareness of what constitutes elder abuse;
•
Second, to inform seniors that help is available and where to find it; and
•
Third, to inform Canadians of their role in helping to identify/report elder abuse.
Page 1
Methodology
Ipsos Reid conducted a national round of focus groups consisting of a total of nine focus
groups in four locations: Halifax, Quebec City, Toronto, and Winnipeg. Two English
language groups were held in each location, with the exception of Quebec City, where
three French language groups were conducted. Focus groups were two hours in duration
and were held in professional focus group facilities.
In order to address the various audiences targeted by the awareness advertising
campaign, focus groups were conducted with seniors (over 65 years of age); caregivers
(i.e., people who provide assistance to elders); and members of the general public (18 to
64 years of age).
In order to ensure that English- and French-language concepts were seen by each of the
various audiences, focus groups were distributed as follows:
•
4 groups with seniors;
•
2 groups with caregivers; and
•
3 groups with members of the general public.
Ipsos Reid used special screener questions in order to ensure that no caregiver/care
receiver relationships were present in any of the groups.
Ipsos Reid, in collaboration with HRSDC, developed recruitment screeners in order to
ensure optimum representation in each of the groups, according to the criteria set out
above.
For the caregivers and general public groups, Ipsos Reid recruited ten participants to
each group, for eight to show. For the seniors group, a total of eight participants were
recruited for each group for six to show. Past experience with this specific audience has
shown that this was the optimum group composition to ensure sufficient time was afforded
to each participant to express his or her opinions. All focus group participants were
provided an incentive for their participation.
Focus group participants were required to produce a piece of identification (i.e., drivers
license, health card, birth certificate, etc.) to verify their identity and eligibility to participate
in the sessions. In addition, participants were informed prior to commencement of
individual sessions of Ipsos Reid’s intent to video and audiotape sessions, and were
asked to provide written consent for audio and video taping. At the time of the sessions,
participants were reminded of the purpose of the research, the study sponsor and Ipsos
Reid’s mandate to carry out the research. Additionally, participants were informed that
their participation in the study was voluntary and that their contribution during the focus
groups was confidential and would not be attributed to them personally.
All fieldwork was conducted between July 15
th
and July 17
th
, 2008. Groups with seniors
were held during the day in order to ensure the availability of participants and optimum
participation.
Page 2
Ipsos Reid developed all research instruments in close consultation with HRSDC.
Research instruments were designed to identify the most favourable and effective of the
various advertising concepts, and to obtain feedback on reactions and improvements that
might be made to each.
Note to Reader
Qualitative data from focus group discussions are reviewed by the researchers who draw
out continuities and synthesize the main themes, critical "hot buttons", "typical" responses
and general levels of agreement/disagreement voiced during the sessions. The analysis
of qualitative findings yields tendencies and indications of how the target audience
perceives the study issues. However, results are not representative of the general
population. Qualitative research involves a limited number of people who are specially
selected according to pre-determined attributes. Only quantitative surveys that have a
robust number of respondents who have been selected randomly from the target
population can be generalized as to represent the broader population.
Page 3
Executive Summary
•
The term elder abuse was not a foreign concept to focus group participants. Indeed,
most were quick to recognize the seriousness of elder abuse, provide specific
examples of what forms it can often take, and were of the view that this issue was of
sufficient importance to merit the attention of the Government of Canada.
•
Generally speaking, participants felt the concepts presented were hard-hitting and
memorable, although some (
Lady by the Curb
and
Spot it. Stop it.
), had a tendency
to be perceived as more impactful than others (
T-Shirts
).
•
Although participants tended to acknowledge an emotional response after having
viewed each of the concepts, there was a certain level of confusion expressed in all
groups as to the overall purpose of the campaign. Indeed, many wondered aloud if
these ads were intended to raise general awareness about elder abuse, or alternatively
if they were intended to get people to act, and specifically to report instances of elder
abuse immediately – as in the case of
‘
Spot it. Stop it’
.
•
The tagline accompanying the
‘Spot it. Stop it.’
concept, although deemed to be
compelling, often created unrealistic expectations as to who would actually be at the
other end of the line (case worker, police officer). Indeed, for some, the tagline created
expectations similar to what one might expect if he or she were to call an emergency
services line.
•
As a rule, participants were hard-pressed to remember the web address/URL or the
telephone number when specifically queried. There was general agreement that
contact information should appear on screen for a longer period of time or perhaps
even for the full duration of the ad. Some seniors in particular were more likely to see
the larger-sized web address/URL on screen rather than the smaller telephone number
and to perceive that this was the only contact method being offered.
•
Some participants wondered aloud as to whether all three concepts presented should
not be part of an overall campaign on elder abuse as each presented a different facet
of elder abuse.
•
Reactions to the idea of having web banner ads as part of the campaign were
generally positive, although participants were quick to point out that this particular
media would be less than effective with seniors, particularly those in older groups less
likely to use the Internet.
•
In all cases, sponsorship of the advertisements was clear, participants in every group
clearly identifying the federal government as having sponsored each of the concepts
tested.
Page 4