Over a third of Jamaicans regularly enjoy local radio. This is estimated to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as Jamaicans remain under curfew since March 2020, as well as under regular stay at home orders for persons over 60 and work from home orders for relevant industries.
In 2018, at the start of the STRiDE Dementia Project at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, World Alzheimer’s Month was hardly recognised by local media. STRiDE Jamaica embarked on an educational, awareness- raising media campaign, and secured 3 radio interviews during WAM 2018. In 2019, we secured 6 interviews. In 2020, during the pandemic, we secured 8 virtual, live segments. This year, several stations plan to air multiple segments to help raise awareness about dementia during WAM, including previous recordings with STRiDE Jamaica team members. STRiDE Jamaica will be featured on 5 live, call-in segments this month.
This is the 4th consecutive year that STRiDE Jamaica will run this media campaign, which includes sending reliable information, flyers and data to producers. This annual campaign is often supplemented by email newsletters, scheduled tweets (@StrideJamaica) and in-person as well as virtual, collaborative events with government entities, FBOs and CBOs. As the STRiDE Dementia Project draws to a close, and the pandemic continues to impact Jamaica (only 5% of the population is fully vaccinated) the STRiDE Jamaica team will continue to raise awareness on radio and social media. Our research aims to produce relevant recommendations on improving the lives of persons living with dementia and their loved ones in Jamaica, which will also be shared using media campaigns.
The annual STRiDE JA WAM Media Campaign is led solely by the STRiDE Jamaica Research Team
The expected dates for the features are: 8, 12, 19, 20 & 21 September 2021 (times TBC and announced via @StrideJamaica on Twitter)
For more information please contact Rochelle Amour, STRiDE Jamaica at: [email protected] / [email protected]