Honest Conversations
Amplify Community Voices
NRC-RIM worked with IDEO.org and Canal Alliance to design a communications campaign that amplifies candid health-related stories and concerns from refugee, immigrant, and migrant (RIM) communities. The stories are seasonal (focused on a timely health topic for three to four months) to help address community concerns and confusion. This campaign supports you in connecting your communities to health guidelines and resources in a timely, relevant, and compelling way, focusing on re-engaging people and rebuilding trust.
Health concerns change often and they’re usually colored by the reality of the moment—what’s in the news, popular culture, and even in people’s hearts. RIM communities have a lot of wisdom and experiences to share, and rebuilding trust with the system means creating a space for listening and meeting people where they are, both physically and emotionally.
Narrative-based conversations and personal experiences are effective in creating change. This modular campaign kit is built to address those changes – those seasons – and amplify the unique qualities of RIM communities.
“Honest Conversations is an opportunity for people to express how they feel or their experiences. It really gets people’s attention and they will be happy to know that somebody cares about their experiences.”
– Community Co-designer
What you can build
How it works
Set the Foundation
Get ready to gather community stories by identifying your campaign Season Topic and Call to Action. At the end of this step, you’ll have a focus for your campaign.
Gather Stories
This section will guide you as you collect honest stories from your community. At the end of this step, you’ll have a collection of stories submitted in different formats from your community.
Make & Share
Learn how to review submissions, create story assets, and distribute them to your community. At the end of this step, you will have a live campaign.
Reflect and Evaluate
These tools will help you reflect on the impact of your campaign. At the end of this step, you’ll know what went well and how to improve your next health campaign.
Design Principles
Use these principles while building your campaign to ensure your work is inclusive and engaging. As you’re readying volunteers to ask community members to share their stories or reviewing story submissions, ask yourself if there are ways you could shift your work to better honor these principles.
Make It Easy to Contribute
Ensure that gathering stories from the community is fast, intuitive, and clear. Meet people where they are, use mediums that they’re comfortable with, and provide them with help via trusted influencers. For example, consider collecting stories in moments when the community is already gathering.
Make Space for Everyone
Embrace different opinions and beliefs as long as they’re not spreading misinformation. A diversity of stories builds belonging and trust throughout the community. Don’t edit out people’s hesitations or doubts; instead, focus on sharing how others navigated doubt to make positive healthcare decisions.
Aim to Inspire Hope
Feature stories that are hopeful and positive to invite anyone in the community to participate. Steer away from instilling fear, and ensure that your Call to Action includes steps the community can take to be healthier and better prepared.
Keep It Simple and Human
Make your stories short, human, and easy to consume regardless of where one sees them. Attention spans are short and people are busy. Edit audio and video clips to 90 seconds or less, while honoring the details about each journey that make it unique and human.
Playbook 1: Set the Foundation
The stories gathered for Honest Conversations are seasonal. A “season” is a period of three to four months during which Honest Conversations are focused on one health topic of concern. With this playbook, you will decide what health topic your campaign will cover, how long the season will be, and create a Call to Action to mobilize your audience.
In this playbook, you will find:
- Guidelines: Pick a Season Topic
- Checklist: Create a Call to Action
- Worksheet: Capture Your Work
Playbook 2: Gather Stories
One of the most effective ways to convince individuals to take action is to share vulnerable stories from other members of the community who are navigating the same health issues. This playbook has guidelines, worksheets, and templates to help you gather stories from the community.
In this playbook, you will find:
- Tips: Gathering Stories
- Checklist: Gathering Stories
- Sample Script
- Consent Form
- Activity: Fill in the Blank
- Tips: Working with Media
- Worksheet: Capture Your Work
Additional Resources:
Playbook 3: Make & Share
Now that you’ve gathered stories from the community, it’s time to decide which stories you want to turn into assets to share in your Honest Conversations Campaign. This playbook will guide you through how to choose stories; how to make and share social media posts, posters, and other materials; and how to hold a launch event for your campaign.
In this playbook, you will find:
- Tips: Review Gathered Stories
- Tips: Convert File Formats
- Worksheet: Choose Your Channels
- Tips: Sharing Your Campaign
- Guide: Hosting a Launch Event
- Worksheet: Capture Your Work
Additional Resources:
Playbook 4: Reflect & Evaluate
With this playbook, you’ll be able to reflect on and measure your impact, create visuals showcasing your work, and announce the end of the season on social media. With these tools, you’ll be prepared to make your next campaign even better than the last.
In this playbook, you will find:
- Tips: Measuring Impact
- Guide: Reflect on Your Campaign
- Worksheet: Capture Your Work