| Course | IHP 510 Marketing, Communications Strategies and Outreach |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | graduate milestone situation analysis |
| Length | About 1,030 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MS Healthcare Administration |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for IHP 510 Module 3
Milestone One: Situation Analysis for Lakeview Health System's Colorectal Cancer Screening Campaign
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
IHP 510: Marketing, Communications Strategies and Outreach
Module Three Milestone One
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Milestone One: Situation Analysis for Lakeview Health System's Colorectal Cancer Screening Campaign
A situation analysis answers a simple question before any message is written: where does the organization stand, and what surrounds it? This milestone analyzes the situation for Lakeview Health System's colorectal cancer screening campaign. It summarizes the problem, reviews internal and external factors, examines competing behaviors, draws on evidence about what raises screening and principles of effective campaigns, and sets behavioral objectives and scope.
The Problem
Of about 64,000 patients aged 45 to 75 in Lakeview's twelve primary care clinics, 58% have a current colorectal screening on record, below the health system's target of 70% and below the rates of leading health systems in the region. Gaps are larger for Medicaid patients, at 44%, Spanish-preferring patients, at 49%, and Black patients, at 51%. Colorectal cancer kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, yet screening can prevent it by finding and removing precancerous polyps and can catch it early, when treatment works best.
Internal Strengths
Lakeview has several assets. Its electronic health record can identify every overdue patient and track completed screenings. About 62% of adult patients use the patient portal. A population health team of three analysts and two outreach nurses already runs reminder calls for mammography. Two community health workers serve Spanish-speaking patients. And clinicians broadly support screening, with standing orders in place for stool tests in four clinics.
Internal Weaknesses
Weaknesses are equally clear. Lakeview has no mailed stool test program; stool tests are handed out only at visits, and fewer than half are returned. Screening reminders depend on individual clinicians remembering to raise the topic. Marketing staff focus on service-line promotion, with no one assigned to health behavior campaigns. Colonoscopy wait times at the partner gastroenterology group are about ten weeks. And materials exist only in English and Spanish, though some patients speak Vietnamese or Somali.
External Opportunities and Threats
Opportunities include national guideline changes that lowered the recommended starting age to 45, increasing public attention; a state Medicaid quality incentive that rewards screening improvement; and a regional laboratory able to process mailed stool tests at low cost. Threats include confusion among patients about which test is right, social media misinformation about stool tests and cancer, competing health messages during flu season and a regional shortage of gastroenterologists that could delay follow-up colonoscopies after positive stool tests.
Table 1. SWOT Summary
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Record identifies overdue patients; active portal; population health team; community health workers | No mailed test program; low return of clinic-issued tests; no campaign staff; long colonoscopy waits |
| Opportunities | Threats |
| Starting age now 45; Medicaid incentive; low-cost lab processing | Test confusion; misinformation; competing messages; specialist shortage |
Note. Factors come from internal data and the regional environment.
Competing Behaviors
Evans (2006) explains that social marketing competes not only with other organizations but with the behaviors people choose instead of the healthy one. For screening, the competition is doing nothing: avoiding an unpleasant test, not taking time off work and not facing the possibility of bad news. A campaign must offer an exchange that makes screening more attractive than inaction, for example by stressing that a home test takes a few minutes, is free and can bring peace of mind for one's family, while lowering costs such as time and embarrassment.
What Raises Screening
Dougherty et al. (2018) pooled U.S. randomized trials of strategies meant to get more adults screened for colorectal cancer. Mailed stool test outreach, in which kits are sent directly to patients' homes with instructions and return envelopes, and patient navigation, in which a person helps patients through barriers to screening, produced among the largest increases in completion. Patient reminders and provider interventions produced smaller but meaningful gains, and combining approaches often worked better than single strategies. These findings suggest the campaign should center on mailed outreach and navigation, with communication supporting them.
Principles of Effective Campaigns
Noar (2006) reviewed a decade of research on health mass media campaigns and summarized principles associated with success: conducting formative research, using theory to guide design, segmenting audiences, designing messages for the specific audience, selecting channels the audience uses, achieving high exposure over time and conducting process and outcome evaluation. He found that well-designed campaigns can produce small to moderate effects on behavior, which, across large populations, translate into meaningful public health gains.
Resources and Partners
The campaign has modest but real resources. The health system has committed 180,000 dollars for the first year, mostly for stool test kits, postage, laboratory processing and a part-time campaign coordinator. The population health analysts can generate lists of overdue patients each month, and the outreach nurses can add colorectal screening calls to their mammography work. Community partners include a Spanish-language radio station, two churches with large Black congregations, a barbershop health program run by the county and the local Somali community center. The partner gastroenterology group has agreed to reserve weekly slots for patients with positive stool tests. These resources shape what the campaign can realistically do and point toward outreach through trusted community channels rather than expensive paid media.
Behavioral Objectives
The campaign's objectives are stated as behaviors. Within eighteen months, the share of eligible patients up to date on screening will rise from 58% to 70%. Among Medicaid patients it will rise from 44% to 58%, among Spanish-preferring patients from 49% to 62% and among Black patients from 51% to 63%. At least 45% of mailed stool tests will be returned within ninety days, and at least 80% of patients with positive stool tests will complete follow-up colonoscopy within six months. Awareness that screening starts at 45 will rise among newly eligible patients, measured by survey.
Scope
The campaign covers Lakeview's own patients. It will not attempt a community-wide mass media campaign, which would require a much larger budget, but it will use patient-facing channels and community partners. Resolving the gastroenterology shortage lies outside the campaign's control, though the plan will coordinate with the partner group to prioritize patients with positive stool tests.
Conclusion
Lakeview has the data and staff to run an effective campaign but lacks a mailed outreach program and campaign ownership. The evidence points to mailed stool tests and navigation as the core, supported by communication designed with Noar's principles. The next milestone chooses channels to reach each segment.
References
Dougherty, M. K., Brenner, A. T., Crockett, S. D., Gupta, S., Wheeler, S. B., Coker-Schwimmer, M., Cubillos, L., Malo, T., & Reuland, D. S. (2018). Evaluation of interventions intended to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 178(12), 1645-1658. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4637
Evans, W. D. (2006). How social marketing works in health care. BMJ, 332(7551), 1207-1210. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.332.7551.1207-a
Noar, S. M. (2006). A 10-year retrospective of research in health mass media campaigns: Where do we go from here? Journal of Health Communication, 11(1), 21-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730500461059
What the IHP 510 Module 3 instructions ask for
Milestone One in IHP 510 usually asks for a situation analysis for your health marketing campaign: the problem, internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, competition and resources, followed by objectives. Graduate milestones commonly run four to six APA 7 pages. Use data to describe the problem and disparities, present a SWOT analysis, identify the competing behavior, draw on evidence about effective interventions and write objectives as measurable behaviors with dates, including objectives for groups facing disparities. Define the campaign's scope realistically so that later channel and outreach decisions rest on an honest picture of resources and constraints. IHP 510 graders notice clean headings in IHP 510 papers. IHP 510 names and dates need checking before IHP 510 submission.
How this IHP 510 Module 3 milestone one example is built
This milestone analyzes a composite health system's colorectal cancer screening campaign, where 58% of eligible adults are screened and gaps reach 14 to 20 points for Medicaid, Spanish-preferring and Black patients. A SWOT table lists strengths such as record data and a population health team, weaknesses such as no mailed test program, opportunities such as the lowered starting age and threats such as misinformation and specialist shortages. Evans frames inaction as the competing behavior, Dougherty and colleagues identify mailed outreach and navigation as most effective and Noar supplies campaign principles. Behavioral objectives and a bounded scope follow. IHP 510 students can reuse this structure for IHP 510 work. IHP 510 claims here trace to cited IHP 510 sources.
Where the IHP 510 Module 3 rubric puts the points
Situation analysis milestones in IHP 510 are commonly judged on problem description with data, a thorough SWOT, identification of competing behaviors, use of evidence on effective interventions, behavioral and measurable objectives, attention to disparities, realistic scope, scholarly support and APA 7. Strong milestones write objectives as behaviors rather than awareness alone, set targets for groups with larger gaps and let evidence shape the campaign's core. Milestones lose points when SWOT items are generic, objectives measure only impressions or scope assumes resources the organization lacks. Naming inaction as the competition is often credited. IHP 510 marks favor careful formatting across IHP 510 sections. IHP 510 citations keep every IHP 510 argument credible.
IHP 510 Module 3 help: the mistakes that cost points
In IHP 510, Milestone One often loses points for generic SWOT lists, for objectives like raising awareness with no behavior or number, for ignoring disparities and for scopes that promise community-wide media without a budget. Another frequent weakness is skipping evidence on what actually changes the behavior. Describe the problem with data, analyze internal and external factors, name the competing behavior, use evidence and write measurable behavioral objectives. If your campaign targets a different behavior, add details to your IHP 510 notes so the analysis fits it. IHP 510 drafts start well from a IHP 510 outline. IHP 510 feedback already received guides IHP 510 revisions.
Get IHP 510 Module 3 written to your instructions
Send the IHP 510 Milestone One prompt, your organization and your campaign goal. The situation analysis will describe the problem with data, present a SWOT, name the competing behavior, use evidence on effective interventions and set measurable behavioral objectives, within 24 to 48 hours, free the first time. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
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IHP 510 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free IHP 510 Module 3 Milestone One sample?
Everything is on this page: a situation analysis and SWOT for a colorectal cancer screening campaign with behavioral objectives.
What is a situation analysis in health marketing?
A review of the problem, the organization's strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, competition and resources before planning a campaign.
What interventions increase colorectal cancer screening most?
A meta-analysis found mailed stool test outreach and patient navigation among the most effective, with combined approaches often working best.
What is the competing behavior in a screening campaign?
Usually inaction: avoiding an unpleasant test, time off work and fear of results.
How should campaign objectives be written?
As measurable behaviors with targets and dates, such as the share screened, including targets for groups with larger gaps.