Discourse Analysis as Formative Research in Health Communication: The Case of “Let’s Drink Less by Half” Campaign

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Paper Session: Health Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Alcohol policy reform in Estonia remains elusive even though recent political rhetoric have acknowledged the need to reduce alcohol harms.

Based on formative researh, acampaign was conceived to build support for alcohol policy reform. The campaign aims to 1) reframe alcohol debate from medical to a social justice issue with policy solutions 2) educate non-medical spokespeople on alcohol policy 3) change norms around drunkenness.

The campaign is run by a social enterprise and funded by grants. Building a dialogue with alcohol discourse, the approach is opportunistic and uses many methods range from active social media coverage and small-group seminars to mass media.

In the first two years of the campaign, the phrasing “Let’s drink less by half” appeared in prime ministers’s inauguration speech and in government coalition program as an aim for 2030.

Alcohol advocacy campaigns can benefit from approaches that build on qualitative research, take on multiple aims and stay in dynamic dialogue with evolving alcohol discourse.

Author

• Riina Raudne, Health Estonia Foundation