Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement in the letter of 3 October 2024 from its Directorate for Culture and Major Events to the managing director at The Orcadian that it is advised by procured agencies on the most "cost-effective media mix", what its position is on whether (a) "return on investment" is an appropriate aim for essential public health messaging and (b) maximising lives saved or quality-adjusted life years (QALY) would be a more reasonable aim.
Since the announcement of the freeze on marketing expenditure, the following public health campaigns have subsequently been assessed and approved to run in 2024-25 in line with the process set out in the answer to question S6W-30726 on 20 November 2024, and the desired health outcomes and aims that need to be achieved for each.
• Early Cancer Detection – Detect Cancer Earlier
• Dementia Stigma
• Appropriate Use of NHS Services - Right Care Right Place
• Adult Mental Health
• Organ Donation & Tissue
• Winter Vaccines (delivered by Public Health Scotland)
• The Importance of Home Recovery - Home First
• Sexual Assault Referral Centres
• Abortion Safe Access Zones
All activity is developed and evaluated against SMART objectives to help deliver policy outcomes, which includes actions that contribute to improving or saving lives. Where there is substantial spend on paid-for media, quantitative evaluation is carried out by an independent research agency to assess campaign performance. Return on investment is considered to assess the number of people in a target audience who can be reached, and how frequently, via a particular media channel to ensure campaigns are delivered cost-effectively.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.