3 Issues That Need CBSM

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Last week I had two Community-Based Social Marketing presentations on one day. I began Thursday by sharing the stage at the Scottish Waste and Resources Conference as one of two keynote speakers. And I finished it as a guest lecturer at Caledonian University in Glasgow.

I like to include local and topical references in my presentations and seminars, so I was doing some research to show the gaps that exist between having the correct attitude and performing the correct behaviour. And I found 3 stunning examples in the health sector.

1. Although almost everyone agrees that giving blood is a good idea, only 5% of UK residents do so.
2. Although 90% of UK residents say they support organ donation, only 26% have signed up for organ donation.
3. In a recently released study from Victoria, BC, Canada, only 12% of health care professionals were found to follow guidance for hand washing. Nobody knows better than health professionals how important it is to wash their hands, but they are not meeting the requirements.

Those are 3 very stark examples of how we cannot assume that people will perform a behaviour simply because they know it is the correct thing to do.