The 2023 ME Association Count ME In Campaign
THANK YOU for supporting the ME Association’s recent Count ME In campaign. Your participation helped to make it the biggest and most successful national campaign that we have ever done. It was an ambitious project – we have learned a great deal – and we will apply this knowledge to future campaigns.
Count ME In was a short and unique campaign that launched 22 May and closed 31 July 2023. It was aimed at people living in the UK, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, who thought they might be affected by symptoms – or who had a diagnosis – of ME/CFS or Long Covid.
It was the first time that we had engaged a marketing agency and market research team to position external advertising, ensuring that key messages and information were shared as widely as possible. As a result, we were able to reach more people than ever before!
We ran promotions nationally through targeted digital advertising and podcasts with the marketing agency and internally through the charity’s own website, magazines, social media, and newsletter. These promotions raised awareness of ME/CFS and Long Covid, provided information, let those affected know they were not alone, and asked those who were able to complete a short survey that focused on their health and social care experiences. The response to the campaign was fantastic!
External Promotions
Total campaign impacts: 2,746,672!
Podcasts: 773,538
Google search ads: 34,911
Social media ads: 1,932,267
Email related clicks: 5,956
Total impressions: 5,851,216!
Podcasts, Google, social media: 2,740,716
Email sends: 3,110,500
N.B. Campaign impacts = total number of people who saw or listened to promotions. Impressions = total number of times the promotions appeared
We had more people complete the survey than have ever completed a charity survey before! The results will be analysed by an independent research team – and we will publish their full report early in 2024 – but we are keen to share some of the headline results with you today.
Your participation has meant that we are able to better understand your experiences with ME/CFS and Long Covid and can be more effective in trying to improve health and social care in the months and years ahead.
What will we do with the survey results?
In line with the ME Association's strategic vision, mission and objectives, we will focus efforts in the following 3 areas:
Supporting the Patient Community:
We are responding to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Interim Delivery Plan consultation and will be using the survey results to support the submission by highlighting:
- The disparity in waiting times for a diagnosis between ME/CFS and Long Covid.
- The lack of awareness of the NICE Guidelines among healthcare professionals.
- Areas of the country where people have received good services, to act as a benchmark for:
- Areas of the country where service provision is inadequate or non-existent.
Educate and Influence the Medical Community:
We are currently discussing the survey results with academics and researchers. Our aim is to publish a full and independent report early in 2024 and to highlight the main findings in a medical journal. We will then consider a targeted medical campaign in 2024 to try and bring positive change to the NHS and social care services. This we hope will be helped by the publication of the final ME/CFS Delivery Plan by the DHSC.
Educate and Influence the Political Community:
We are preparing a presentation to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on ME in 2024 and working on a strategic plan to target individual MPs.
Feedback
- If you have any comments about the Count ME In campaign or about the initial survey findings, do please let us know: feedback@meassociation.org.uk
“In general, experiences with the NHS were more likely to rated poor than good and were worse for ME/CFS than Long Covid. Only 8% of those with ME/CFS rated the NHS as good or excellent, and with Long Covid it was 15%. Top barriers to good care were long waiting times, not being listened to or believed, and ineffective treatments.
“Experiences of NHS ME/CFS specialist services and Long Covid clinics were more positive, with 47% of those with ME/CFS and 51% of those with Long Covid having used a hospital based service. Overall, 42% felt the service provided was good or excellent.”
The ME Association 2023 Count ME In Survey Initial Results