Which saves more lives? The fence at the top of the cliff or the ambulance at the bottom?
Public health interventions significantly improve the health of many people by focusing on disease prevention rather than treatment. However, adherence is often challenging as it is difficult to encourage people to change their behaviour before the problem has occurred. Join our discussion with representatives from the Transport Accident Commission and VicHealth’s ‘This Girl Can’ campaign as we explore ways to make an effective public health campaign, and how doctors, especially GPs, can play a role in spreading awareness.
Speakers:
Ms Samantha Cockfield
Samantha Cockfield is the Lead Director Road Safety at the Transport Accident Commission (TAC). She started in road safety in 1992 as a graduate economist working on the development and evaluation accident blackspot programs, moving on to develop behavioural programs including many of the TAC’s marketing campaigns. Samantha is responsible for the development and delivery of the TAC’s road safety strategy, which spans road infrastructure, vehicle safety initiatives and programs designed to improve road user behaviours. She has qualifications in Economics, Political Sciences and Business Administration and is involved in a range of Australian and international committees.
Ms Melanie Fineberg
Ms Melanie Fineberg is a passionate marketing communications professional with almost 20 years’ experience in the government and not-for-profit sectors in Australia (Sydney, Perth and Melbourne) and in London. Melanie has spent her career leading teams to deliver a range of high-profile behaviour change campaigns. From encouraging people to be safer on the roads and at work, to supporting people to make healthier choices and raising funds for life-saving research, Melanie’s goal has always been to have a positive impact on people’s lives. As Social Marketing Manager at VicHealth, Melanie is responsible for leading her team to design, develop and evaluate social marketing and awareness campaigns. This has included the creation of the highly successful “This Girl Can – Victoria” campaign which inspired more than 285,000 women to get active in its first year. Melanie has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Technology Sydney.