Change at Your Own Pace

Michigan, like much of the rest of the U.S., is in the grip of an overdose crisis, with overdose deaths rising fastest in the Black community and other communities of color.

Historically, campaigns about drug use have usually focused on abstinence and warning people not to use illicit drugs. Vital Strategies partnered with Luceo, a creative agency, and suggested to public health officials a campaign lifting up harm reduction services, an approach that meets people who use drugs where they are and demonstrates with lived experience that judgement-free services make change possible. The team worked with the Michigan Health and Human Services Department to create a statewide multimedia campaign that built support for harm reduction and directed people who use drugs where to find harm reduction services in the state.

The campaign featured people who use or have used drugs and who now do harm reduction work. This created an emotional connection with the audience and resonated with people who use drugs, emphasizing dignity and compassion.

In Michigan, 2,998 people died of overdose in 2022. The campaign sought to build support among all Michigan residents—including those who use drugs and those who have people in their communities who use drugs—about the effective and recently expanded harm reduction services and resources available.

Harm reduction is a public health approach to drug use, based on the principle that people who use drugs need care, not criminalization. Harm reduction services help people who are using drugs to protect their health not only from overdose but also from blood-borne viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C. Many tools are available to reduce the harms of drug use, such as: fentanyl test strips and other drug-checking tools to identify potent additives; sterile syringes and other supplies to stop the spread of HIV and hepatitis C and reduce injection-related infections; naloxone to reverse fatal overdoses; methadone and buprenorphine access for those struggling with opioid use disorder; and overdose prevention centers that provide supervised spaces for people to consume drugs safely while also having access to services and resources.

The campaign emphasized the need to reimagine our approach to drug use and overdose, centering health, community and support rather than shame and stigma. Messages were broadly disseminated. Ads were posted at the corner store and displayed on billboards. Social media was peppered with posts, images and videos, with testimonials from people who had been helped by such measures. A website was created where people could find nearby harm reduction services.

Having people tell their own stories was key. Vital Strategies strategically sought out people with experience in drug use and drug overdose to be in front of and behind the camera and determine the campaign’s creative direction. The slogan “Change, at your own pace” respected and valued individuals rather than imposing moral judgment and demanding abstinence.

Campaign messengers, who were featured in the ads, were local harm reduction service providers in Michigan who could be easily identified and remembered by people in their communities. This fostered trust and belief in the messaging. Equally important was ensuring that the makeup of those teams reflected racial, gender, age and geographical diversity in order to clearly demonstrate that overdose is an issue that can—and does—affect all communities.

“Change at Your Own Pace” reached millions of people. The campaign garnered 43.2 million total impressions across digital displays, digital videos, Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram. Videos alone earned 6.3 million total views, with nearly three-quarters of them watched all the way through.

The campaign’s success has inspired other states to partner with Vital Strategies  to create harm reduction ad campaigns of their own, using personal testimonials from people who use drugs and who do harm reduction work.