Headjam acon 2

Case study

ACON (Aids Council of NSW) are a long-term client of Headjam, having collaborated on many health promotion projects since early 2000. ACON Start booklet aimed to be given to those that had been recently diagnosed with HIV. Inspired by the editorial style of novels, we wanted to create a resource that was comforting and personal, symbolising journeys and personal conquest.

HIV is not a death sentence and with the right information and support early, most people live well with HIV. A project set to break the stigma and extend a hand to those seeking support at the time of diagnosis.

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Background

ACON (Aids Council of NSW) are a long term client of Headjam’s, having collaborated on many milestone health promotion projects together since the early 2000’s. We are very proud to collaborate and support the great work this organisation provides to the NSW community.

In 2015 Headjam were engaged by ACON to help finalise a project we collectively started in 2007 called ‘Start’. The project was a booklet that was aimed to be given to those that had been recently diagnosed with HIV. It is an important document that reassures people reading it, that their life isn’t over and that with certain routines, they can live full and long lives after diagnosis.

Due to many breakthroughs with HIV over the last decade this project went through 8 years of various content changes and NSW Health analysis to ensure the information provided was the most up to date content. In 2015, excitedly the content was finalised and Headjam re-visited the design to bring it up to date with recent ACON campaigns and design.

Objective

To create an unobtrusive booklet that provided facts in a calm and neutral way to support the person that had been recently diagnosed, outlining all of the steps, support programs and initiatives they have available to them through ACON or other relevant health services within NSW.

Target Audience

There were two target audiences for the booklet, the first is the patient that has just been diagnosed and the second are the GPs who diagnose.

The booklet can be read by both groups to get the relevant information and facts about the diagnosis. For GP’s it may be recapping on the key things to say in the appointment, and for the patient it’s all about reassurance and support in those first few hours, days and weeks after diagnosis.

Consumer Proposition

‘Start life after diagnosis’ was a key proposition used throughout this project to ensure everything Headjam designed met the goals of this project.

Desired Consumer Response

'I am thankful for this information at this really scary time. I’m feeling supported and every question I have is comprehensively answered in this booklet'.

The main aim of the design of the booklet was to ensure the patient felt supported throughout the first few stages after diagnosis. Headjam wanted them to feel empowered and have access to all relevant support services available to them within their region and to know practically what it meant for them moving forward in all aspects of their life.

Creative Solution

Confidentiality was key when developing and designing this project. It was paramount to ensure that patients could feel comfortable reading this booklet straight after their diagnosis appointment, when anxiety is at its highest point.

This key insight meant that the booklet needed to ‘blend in’ and not scream ‘health booklet’. It specifically shouldn’t say ‘recently diagnosed with HIV’ on the cover. The approach from this point was simple; Headjam took the title of the project ‘Start’ and made it close to invisible using only a spot UV gloss over the top of the letters that were printed a very lights grey.

The booklet, as you can imagine, has a lot of text-heavy information and content, in order for the reader to fully understand every aspect of their future journey after diagnosis. A positive green colour was used to ensure the user felt calm throughout each section of the booklet. These coloured pages also acted as clean and simple chapter pages to showcase each section of the document, providing the reader with a simple experience to get to the information they wanted access to as quickly as possible.

Evaluation

The booklet was a superb resource due to the diligence of the team at ACON crafting the content over many years. Demand for the booklet was much larger than expected with General Practices throughout NSW wanting to get copies of the document to further their knowledge of the advancements in treatment and ongoing life after diagnosis.

The content has been updated in 2016 and it will continue to be an evolving document that can go from strength to strength as advancements in treatment increase year after year.

Headjam are proud to continue our support of ACON through each iteration of the document.

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