GREENFIELD — Franklin County residents might notice new messages on buses and billboards this summer, encouraging strong relationships and vaccine confidence.
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and the Communities That Care Coalition have launched two public awareness campaigns, through bus advertisements and billboards, that are designed to improve community health. One, called “Teens Thrive,” highlights the importance of fostering positive relationships between adults and young people. The other, from the locally launched Valley Vax website, encourages residents to seek reliable information about vaccines and stay up to date on immunizations.
The “Teens Thrive” campaign grew out of the work of FRCOG’s Communities That Care Coalition, a regional partnership that includes schools, parents, health professionals, youth organizations and other community members. The coalition focuses on preventing health problems before they occur.
Rather than emphasizing intervention after issues arise, the campaign focuses on strengthening protective factors that research has shown can improve young people’s long-term health and well-being. Messages featured on buses and billboards encourage simple everyday interactions, such as listening during a conversation, spending time together or sharing everyday activities.
“We are really happy that we’ve seen a big reduction in unhealthy behaviors like alcohol and drug use, and risky sexual activity over the years of the survey,” Jenna Weld, one of the coalition’s parent leaders. Since 2003, the coalition has surveyed more than 40,000 students in grades eight, 10 and 12 in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region to evaluate youth habits and overall emotional and physical health. “But even though unhealthy behaviors are going down,” she added, “stress and mental health problems have become really serious issues as young people have spent more and more time online.”
Weld said the “Teens Thrive” campaign is built around the idea that small moments of connection can have a meaningful impact on a young person’s life.
“’Teens Thrive’ is built around a simple idea: small moments of connection matter,” she said. “We hope these messages remind all of us how easy it can be to make a positive difference in a young person’s life.”
Campaign organizers developed the advertisements with input from Communities That Care Coalition members, parents and youth representatives. The materials include English and Spanish versions to better reflect Franklin County communities.
Alongside “Teens Thrive,” FRCOG’s Cooperative Public Health Service is promoting a campaign intended to provide residents with trustworthy vaccine information amid growing misinformation.
“We wanted to get more information out about the fact that vaccines are reliable and they do work,” said Meg Ryan, a public health nurse with FRCOG. “Since vaccines have been invented, millions and millions of people have not died. They save lives.”
Ryan said the campaign aims to counter misinformation by directing people toward local, trusted public health resources rather than relying solely on national conversations about vaccines. The ads also direct residents to visit the Valley Vax website at valleyvax.org, where they can find educational materials and local contacts who can answer questions.
According to Ryan, local vaccination data helped motivate the campaign.
“Our vaccine rates have been going down, so we’d really like to change the dynamic that the school data is showing,” she said. “The proportion of kindergarten students with an exemption has gone up, and it’s one of the highest in the state.”
Ryan emphasized that conversations surrounding vaccines should focus on listening rather than pressuring people.
“You don’t tell them what to do,” she said. “You ask what their concerns are. What are your questions? What do you want to know? What makes you hesitate? And you listen.”
Both campaigns rely on highly visible advertising instead of social media alone. Organizers said buses and billboards provide an efficient way to reach residents throughout Franklin County while creating repeated exposure to the messages during everyday travel.
The advertisements are expected to remain visible throughout the summer, with additional bus designs planned in the coming weeks. Organizers also hope to expand the campaigns through social media, printed materials and community outreach as funding allows.
While the campaigns address different public health topics, both share a common goal: encouraging healthier communities through accessible, evidence-based messaging. Whether that means reminding adults to spend a few extra minutes talking with a teenager or encouraging families to ask questions about vaccines, FRCOG hopes small actions today can lead to healthier outcomes across Franklin County in the years ahead.
