Worcester Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS): Marketing Campaign for Stigma Free Worcester

Project Sponsor

The Worcester Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a branch of the Worcester city government that is responsible for coordinating and managing a variety of services and programs related to Public Health, Veterans’ Services, Human Rights and Disabilities, Elder Affairs and Youth Services. The HHS assists these areas by maximizing access to city programs and services by providing outreach and educational programs. Through all of their initiatives the HHS aims to reduce bias and bigotry. The HHS ensures that people with disabilities have access to all programs regardless of financial status, and are aided in finding housing and employment opportunities. Worcester’s youth sees advancement in educational opportunities through the work of the HHS as well. Through the work of Worcester’s HHS and its Commissioner, Dr. Matilde Castiel, the city of Worcester is becoming a safer and healthier community. http://www.worcesterma.gov/hhs

Project Goal

For our Interactive Qualifying Project, we worked with the Worcester Department of Health and Human Services to create a marketing campaign for increased notoriety and usage of the mobile application Stigma Free Worcester. After further research on social media marketing, we created informational materials such as pamphlets, a how-to-video, and advertisements for long term promotion of the application. This will help the Worcester DHHS promote the mobile application for years to come after our project has ended.

Student Researchers

Our team consists of Mylena Guzman, Joseph Kerkach, Steven Mey, and Emily Wood. We are all juniors studying Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Found below are some fun facts about each of us:

  1. Mylena: Played violin for 12 years
  2. Joe: Dedicated Boston sports fan
  3. Steve: Enjoys going to the beach
  4. Emily: Enjoys paddle boarding and growing cacti

Goals and Objectives

The goal of this project was to increase public knowledge about local public health resources by informing them about the application Stigma Free Worcester.  In order to accomplish these goals, we developed the following objectives:

  1. Gain knowledge about how city employees and organizations conduct their social media marketing
  2. Determine previous knowledge of the application and popular media usage by our target users
  3. Create informational materials for Stigma Free Worcester
  4. Develop a long term plan for ongoing promotion of the Stigma Free Worcester application

Final Report

Marketing Campaign for the Stigma Free Worcester Mobile App