IX
FOLLOW-UP WORK
In a previous chapter it was pointed out that the purpose of a tour may be to give information, to create interest in a new movement that is being launched, to revive interest that has become dull, or to serve as an attention-arresting feature of an intensive campaign that aims to produce some immediate results. All of these aims point to the need of planning definite follow-up work. It will not do to let people forget what they have learned or lose interest in it through neglect. If the tour means simply that ideas or facts are dropped down into each community, like seeds scattered by the winds without provision for later cultivating, they have a smaller chance to take root and grow.
Psychology has demonstrated that there is a “curve of forgetting.” Hollingworth described it as follows:
When a given appeal is addressed to me, I straightway proceed to forget it. But I do not forget it at a uniform rate, so much being forgotten on each succeeding day until all is forgotten. Instead, I forget the material that has been seen or learned, according to a definite “curve of forgetting,” a curve which descends rapidly at first and then more slowly. The larger proportion of material is forgotten in the first day or so. After that a constantly decreasing amount is forgotten on each succeeding day.[10]
How may the impression made by the program and exhibits of the train be fixed in the minds of its visitors promptly, so that forgetting may be delayed until results are obtained? Several simple methods suggest themselves. We will take up here mainly those things that can be done while the train is in town or soon after its departure, as we are concerned only with the part that the train tour plays in the whole program of the organization that sends it out.
Getting the Subject Talked About
If the visitors talk about what they saw and heard they are likely to remember it much longer and more accurately than if they do not. The principles discussed elsewhere, of simplicity of form, concentration on one main topic, orderly arrangement, and lack of crowding in both exhibits and programs, have a definite application to getting the subject talked about. People speak vaguely and in general terms about what they have not clearly understood. We may imagine that A, who saw the train, meets B, who did not, and the following conversation takes place:
A: Did you see the health train yesterday?
B: No, how was it?
A: Oh, fine! great! You certainly missed it. There was a good crowd out, too.
B: What was it all about?
A: Oh, fresh air and not letting the babies die. You’d be surprised how many people die that could be prevented. And they say the town ought to have a nurse to look after the school children, and a hospital for—let’s see, I’ve forgotten now about the hospital.
B: I see. Just a scheme of the politicians to make jobs for a lot of people. I always thought this was a pretty healthy town and I do yet.
A: No, you’ve got it wrong, B, but I can’t make it clear to you. I can’t talk like the fellow at the train. You ought to have heard him. He made a great speech.
If A has no clearer idea than this to pass on to B the next day, he himself is not likely to stay interested and, much less, convinced for very long. One of the best tests of the argument presented at the train is whether the talk about it afterward is general or particular, confused or clear and accurate in repeating facts and reasons. It is worth while to arrange with local co-operators as a part of the follow-up work to sound people as to what interested them and what they think of the suggestions that were made. Many changes, sometimes small ones, but important, nevertheless, can be made on the basis of criticisms brought out in these interviews.
Printed Matter for Distribution
Another way of helping to see that the train message is remembered is by distributing the right kind of printed matter. Every traveling campaign carries with it leaflets or pamphlets for visitors to take home. Sometimes a handful of assorted pieces of printed matter is given to each visitor with a reckless disregard of their appropriateness to the purpose of the campaign or the probability of their being read. One of the most frequent blunders made by managers of campaigns of this sort is to assume that all that is learned at the exhibit or meeting will be remembered, and that the printed matter should give additional information. In a baby saving campaign, a health department is likely to give out in addition to printed matter about babies, other leaflets on hookworm or tuberculosis. Giving away printed matter on topics in which no interest has been cultivated is wasteful since it is not likely to be read or, if read, distracts attention from the main topic.
In most cases, one piece of carefully prepared printed matter on one subject is enough for general distribution. A useful leaflet might well include a summary of the main arguments of the teachings contained in the exhibits, together with sketches or photographs and a clear and appealing statement of the action desired, whether it is support of a bill in the legislature, membership in an organization, or the forming of health habits. This leaflet should not fail to give information as to how and where further facts may be obtained. If it seems desirable to interest people in a number of additional subjects, the better way is to have leaflets on them displayed where they can be examined and to have a supply of addressed postcards listing these special publications and on which visitors may check those they wish to have sent to them.
Publicity Following the Train’s Stop
There should be a readable account of the train in the first issue of the local paper following its visit. Those who visited it will like to read the account of what they saw and in doing so will be reminded of a number of features of the exhibits and talks that were rapidly slipping from their memories. The train director would do well to see that the local paper receives as good copy for this follow-up story as for advance publicity. The people who came and what they said about it adds to the news value of the story.
Other forms of publicity may be used to advantage immediately following the visit of the train, such as a series of special articles appearing weekly in the local paper, printed matter mailed to a list of people obtained at the train, or a motion picture shown in the local picture theater, at a meeting or a contest that may reach its climax at some later event, such as the county or state fair.
Organization of Local Forces
Leading men and women to take some action as the result of interest aroused at the train is the surest way to get the message remembered and is the aim of most educational campaigns. This action may be something very simple and concrete, or it may be the entering wedge of some continuous activity. One of the simplest steps, which has already been referred to, is the writing of local people to headquarters for information or for literature. This serves the purpose also of renewing interest when the material sent for arrives and it helps the central organization to make up mailing lists. Local organizations should be encouraged to send for reference material to use in talks and discussions.
Launching or boosting a permanent movement at a meeting held during the train visit is one good way of starting follow-up work. Many an effort that promised much because of local enthusiasm at the start has died a natural death, because after the specialists from the state or national headquarters have departed, local leaders find themselves without any clear-cut program to begin work on or any recognized leadership. An informal meeting of the train staff and local leaders at which temporary committees are formed and definite plans discussed may be one of the most useful features of the train program. It has been suggested elsewhere that the hour of the day least popular with visitors may be a good time for such a meeting. A still better method is an early visit after the departure of the train, of an organizer or consultant who will advise about plans.
An interesting report of the follow-up organization work carried on in connection with its health car, comes from the West Virginia Public Health Council:
Wherever possible a temporary committee was formed before leaving the community, this committee being chosen by a group of representative people in a community meeting in the interests of health education at which time child welfare work was emphasized. At this meeting we made an effort to secure the attendance of medical, dental, and nursing professions, of the mayor and town council, school board, and school superintendent and teachers, ministers and Sunday school superintendents, fraternal organizations, women’s clubs, Red Cross, and any other organizations directly or indirectly interested in community welfare work. The temporary committee was appointed to secure a permanent organization based upon the interest and enthusiasm already created, this permanent committee to undertake a definite health program for the community. In addition to this we are keeping in touch with the various communities visited, by frequent correspondence, and the director of the Division of Child Hygiene has already returned to a number of the communities to help in the making of plans, to stimulate interest and enthusiasm, and in every way possible to promote health education and public health nursing. We are now formulating county-wide and state-wide plans for the furtherance of this work through co-operation with the Extension Division of the Agricultural Department of the State University and American Red Cross.
An incidental but important factor in promoting continuous follow-up work is that local representatives of the movement, especially the salaried worker, if there is one, should take an active part in the program of the train, so as to become identified with the impressions and ideas gained here in the minds of the people who visited the train.
Checking up Results
As bearing upon the question of any future use of a similar method of campaigning, “checking up” results is good, although it may not always be easy or bring entirely conclusive evidence. The method described in the account of the Cleveland Children’s Year Special, which is a dispensary truck, is suggestive. Cards of invitation to visit the local dispensary were given out at the truck and the number that were turned into the dispensary was noted by the nurses. Nurses also asked new visitors during the following month where they had learned of the dispensary, and recorded it when the visit was directly or indirectly a result of the Special.
Reports may be requested from local editors, school superintendents, and others who meet many people, regarding the responsiveness of the people to ideas promulgated at the train. The number and the nature of inquiries received at headquarters from places that have been visited may also serve as an indication of the effectiveness with which the message has been presented.
Finally on the matter of follow-up work, one of the chief criticisms that may be made of much educational publicity is that it is spasmodic and unrelated. This is often due to the fact that the planning of follow-up work is left until the campaign is at its height or until it is over. By that time the workers at headquarters and in the field are too absorbed in the detail of running the affair, or a new project is under way. All the resources and energy have gone into running the campaign and none is left for securing results. In the advance planning of the whole campaign, allowance should be made in the budget for a definite program of follow-up work as well as in the time of staff members needed to carry it out.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Hollingworth, H. L.: Advertising and Selling, New York, D. Appleton & Co.