Amber Schiffner

Dr. Xu

COMM-235

Prevention Point, Philadelphia: Campaign Analysis

Introduction:
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The city of Philadelphia has become plagued with an epidemic in recent years. It was once

believed that the opioid crisis was only linked to a certain crowd in Philadelphia. However, over

the years as the epidemic spread across the city, it became evident that the opioid epidemic was

not linked to a certain demographic at all. In fact, upon recent reports, opioid overdoses have

become a ‘new normal’ across the city of Philadelphia. While the opioid crisis in the city has

become widespread, some neighborhoods are being hit significantly harder than other

neighborhood has. In a report on the number of overdose deaths in the city by philly.com, the

article stated the following, “The 19134 zip code, which includes Kensington and Port

Richmond, saw 209 overdose deaths in 2017, a 49.3 percent increase over the year before. Just

north, the 19124 zip code (Frankford, Juniata Park, Crescentville) recorded a jump in fatal

overdoses of 155.6 percent, from 36 in 2016 to 92 the following year” (Whelan, Aubrey). Along

with the raise in deaths caused by overdoses, the epidemic has also increased the number of

homeless people across the city. Likewise, along with the locational points in the higher number

of overdoses, these locations also have a high number of homeless people. Kensington in

particular is one of the neighborhoods hit the hardest. ‘Heroin camps’ or ‘encampment sites’

have been popping up more commonly in these areas, which are simply people addicted to

opioids, heroin in particular, living in camps since they lost their belongings, families, and any

source of income due to their addiction. These campsites are most commonly found under

tunnels, bridges, and usually any area that protects them from harsh weather conditions.

Due to the sharp increase in overdose deaths and the raising number of homeless people in the

previous years, Mayor Kenny declared a ‘disaster’ in the Kensington neighborhood in

Philadelphia early October of 2018. The issue of a ‘disaster’ showcases more tough efforts to
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combat the epidemic head on with less of a government vibe and more of a lower, systematic

feel. This effort is hoping that more interactive prevention will occur instead of reactions to the

efforts. Some of these efforts include recruiting everyone together to work out possible solutions

to the issue at hand (Whelan, Aubrey). The beginning of these efforts began with the clearing the

‘Heroin Camps’ found throughout the city. These combined efforts were some of the more head

on approaches to settle the epidemic across the city.

The most recent clearing out of the camps was last week, in Mid-November 2018 in the

Kensington area of the city . The the camp was located under a bridge near Frankford and

Cambria Avenues, right off of Somerset. The camp was one of the more prominent camps in the

area. According to a written article about the major clean out, the residents under the bridge were

given access to homeless shelters where they were promised a safe bed to sleep on and protection

from the harsh weather outside. A quote from the explaining more of the events says,

“Belongings were piled into plastic containers, loaded into a truck, and packed off to a shelter on

Kensington Avenue where, city officials have promised, everyone on a 51-name list from the

Frankford encampment is guaranteed a bed. City officials said that 36 of those on the list had

entered the shelter.” (Whelan, Aubrey). Questions raise about whether these events are being too

‘forceful’ since the affected beings are being forced to relocate, but the efforts are claimed to be

made to keep them safe during the harsh weather and to help them seek help.

Prevention Point Philadelphia Introduction:

In attempts to battle the ever growing opioid epidemic in the city of Philadelphia, a nonprofit

organization titled Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP) was created in the early 1990’s.

However, as the epidemic began to grow worse, the efforts made by PPP have began to grow
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more and more. Located in the heart of Kensington in Philadelphia, Prevention Point

Philadelphia aims to start a conversation about the growing opioid crisis and help the victims

whatever way they possibly can. The Prevention Point Philadelphia’s website mission states that

they aim to provide harm reduction services to Philadelphia and surrounding area. PPP’s website

explains that harm reduction refers to ‘policies, programs and practices that aim to reduce the

harm associated with drug use in people unable or unwilling to stop. The primary features of

harm reduction are the focus on the prevention of harm (rather than on eliminating drug use

itself) and the focus on people who use drugs” (ppponline.org).

How Has Prevention Point Philadelphia Helped?

Prevention Point Philadelphia was the first to introduce the needle/syringe exchange program.

Despite backlash with the project, the needle exchange program is fully legal and see primarily

as a beneficial program within the city of Philadelphia. PPP explains the needle/syringe

exchange program as, “Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) provide a way for those people who

inject drugs to safely dispose of used syringes and to obtain sterile syringes at no cost. Basically

they bring used syringes to us and we provide them with new clean, sterile syringes”

(ppponline.org). The action of collecting used syringe and needles and providing clean, unused

one helps reduce the spread of blood transmitted diseases, especially HIV and AIDS

(ppponline.org).

Prevention Point Philadelphia has also began to introduce a new, very controversial program.

The program is titled ‘Safe Injection Sites’ where drug users can safely inject drugs in the

presence of medical professionals. The medical professionals are present to ensure the injector
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will not begin to face an overdose or any other drug injection related issues. People who do face

overdoses or other related injuries can be connected to treatment places, or even housing

services. The now approved safe injection site, called Safehouse, is privately funded fully by

Prevention Point Philadelphia (Whalen, Aubrey).

Audiences and How They’re Affected:

Since Prevention Point Philadelphia’s target audience is very controversial, focusing on one

audience is very difficult to manage. Having a controversial focus topic such as the opioid

addiction leads PPP to a lot of bad press and reviews from those who disagree on the topic of

drug use and addiction. Simply due to their standpoint on the topic as a whole, people will shrug

off and refuse to acknowledge what their mission is. Keeping this in mind, Prevention Point

Philadelphia advertises their organization as one who is there to help those in need and will do

whatever possible to keep these people alive. In doing so, the focus audience for PPP is mainly

those who are struggling with opioid addiction and are in search of help within the Philadelphia

region. Being based in Philadelphia limits the organization to the small region of Philadelphia

and the surrounding counties. Beyond that, another target audience for PPP are those who are

willing to donate to the organization. Beyond those who donate financially, PPP are also

targeting people who would donate time for their events, such as fundraising.

The main objective for their audience is for them to interact with the nonprofit organization.

Prevention Point Philadelphia encourages interaction with every select audience group. For those

who are struggling with addiction, the main objective is for them to seek out resources for help.

If the person is not ready for help at this moment, then the nonprofit’s main objective is to make
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sure that person is as safe and responsible as possible when injecting. When that person is ready,

the main goal then becomes ensuring they are safe and comfortable when getting resources for

help. The last main audience objective is to spread awareness and increase communication on the

overwhelming issue opioid usage. Increased communication would then also lead to a larger

amount of donations and increased volunteer for events. While also doing good for the opioid

crisis, this would also raise more positive press for Prevention Point Philadelphia.

Media Channels and Usage:

Prevention Point Philadelphia are active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. While the media

channels for PPP are bare bones, they still actively promote the nonprofit’s main goals of

providing assistance for those who are suffering at the hands of opioid crisis. Some of their posts

range from posts asking for donations for events surrounding around the approaching holidays,

reposts of relevant articles about the opioid crisis, and also reshares of their upcoming events.

The majority of their posts, however, are very donation focused with the holiday season

approaching. Some of their posts, such as the post here, are requesting donations for opioid users

who live on the streets so they’ll be cold in the upcoming weather changes as winter quickly

approaches. This ensures that while these people are not yet ready to seek out help, they’re

remaining safe during the harsh weather.

Overall Message:

Prevention Point Philadelphia’s Instagram and Twitter pages are also almost identical with the

Facebook page’s posts and overall content as a whole. While the same content can soon become

mundane, the donation centric posts show how focused PPP are to making sure the opioid suffers
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are getting the help they need to stay healthy and alive. While shaking up the content across

platforms will have audiences engage more, photographs of events are always a great way to

give potential donors and volunteers a good look into what PPP typically does. Prevention Point

Philadelphia aims to show that even if a person is suffering from the use of drugs, help is out

there and are campaigning for them to fight the odds and keep surviving.

Reference Page:

Whelan, Aubrey. "Declaring a Disaster in Opioid-plagued Kensington, Philadelphia Officials

Announce a New Rescue Plan." Http://www2.philly.com. October 03, 2018. Accessed
November 20, 2018. http://www2.philly.com/philly/health/addiction/declaring-opioid-plagued-
kensington-a-disaster-philadelphia-officials-announce-a-new-rescue-plan-20181003.html.

Whelan, Aubrey. "The Opioid Overdose Crisis Is Hitting All of Philadelphia, New Data Show."
Http://www2.philly.com. June 20, 2018. Accessed November 20, 2018.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/health/addiction/the-opioid-overdose-crisis-is-hitting-all-of-
philadelphia-new-data-show-20180620.html.
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Whelan, Aubrey. "The Opioid Overdose Crisis Is Hitting All of Philadelphia, New Data Show."
Http://www2.philly.com. June 20, 2018. Accessed November 20, 2018.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/health/addiction/the-opioid-overdose-crisis-is-hitting-all-of-
philadelphia-new-data-show-20180620.html.

Whelan, Aubrey. "How the Philadelphia Nonprofit That Could Launch the Nation's First Safe-
injection Site Got Started." Http://www2.philly.com. October 07, 2018. Accessed November 22,
2018. http://www2.philly.com/philly/health/addiction/how-the-philadelphia-nonprofit-that-
could-launch-the-nations-first-safe-injection-site-got-started-20181007.html.

"Frequently Asked Questions." Home | Prevention Point. Accessed November 22, 2018.
https://ppponline.org/about-us/frequently-asked-questions.