Portfolio

In 2008, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease needed to provide information about successful health-promotion programs across the country. The idea was that organizations could use these examples to start their own programs and thereby reduce the incidence of chronic disease.

Captus designed a catalogue of programs, and with it, a map that showed the steps that need to be taken to institute a successful program, as well as an Essential Elements guide that detailed the commonalities among successful programs. Captus also added an executive summary booklet to the package. In the end, what started as a catalogue grew into Keeping America Healthy: A Guide to Successful Programs for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, a toolkit that is being used by countless organizations across the country, from schools to employers to community groups.

Chosen from more than 4,000 entries from around the world, the toolkit won the Silver Davey Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts. The Captus creative team was responsible for the graphic design, print production, project management, and editing of the toolkit.

Beginning in October 2008, the Early Education and Child Care Initiative of the American Academy of Pediatrics turned to Captus to develop a training curriculum on medical administration in child care and early education settings. The curriculum was developed with input from over 20 health care, early education and child care professionals and organizations. Captus managed the collaborative process and designed a training presentation consisting of five modules, an instructor's manual with training notes and supporting materials, and a participant's manual. The curriculum was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition in 2009.

The Renal Physicians Association asked Captus to redesign RPA News – the organization's bimonthly newsletter that provides information on issues affecting renal physicians, practices and RPA activities. Captus used this opportunity to give the newsletter a current, updated look that represents the cutting-edge information this newsletter provides to RPA members. Captus continues to produce this newsletter, including editing, layout, and print management.

Since its inception in April 2005, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) has connected more than 5.5 million people to programs that can provide medicines at little or no cost. Sponsored by America's biopharmaceutical companies, PPA is the world's largest private-sector effort with this purpose. It offers a single point of access to more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs, including more than 180 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies.

PPA delivers its message through a variety of means, including two buses that travel across the country and sign people up for programs. PPA wanted to expand its arsenal of information, so that people with common conditions who visited the bus could also learn more about their conditions, and learn it from reliable sources.

PPA tasked Captus with developing a box of information cards that was portable enough to travel on the buses, but still conveyed enough information that patients could learn what they needed to know and where they could get more information. Captus researched and wrote the cards, and designed the box and inserts.

Even before the boxes were complete, the client wanted to use the images for events that were being held at political conventions in 2008. Captus designed and managed the printing of several larger-than-life exhibit booth displays based on the design of the cards.

The Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association (PILMA) is an organization of employees from all levels of the biopharmaceutical industry, from management to laborers. PILMA members are working together to address issues of mutual interest and concern to the industry, its workers and all Americans.

In 2009, PILMA's board of trustees finalized a white paper called Health Care Reform for Workers and Working Families that outlined the organization's platform on reform and suggested solutions to existing and potential problems. The 10-page report was entirely text – it had no tables, photographs or graphics – and it was written in the language of executives and management.

PILMA contracted with Captus to make the document friendly to laborers, both in language and in presentation.

A Captus writer and editor worked with the PILMA team to revise the document and wrote a one-page summary that boiled down the full paper into digestible key points. The Captus design team then turned the edited manuscript and summary into a glossy, colorful, easy-to-navigate publication.

Captus developed branding, a template and layout for a series of issue briefs for the Partnership for Prevention's National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP). NCPP is a membership organization of businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies advancing policies and practices to prevent disease and improve the health of all Americans.

This series of issue briefs describes the findings of a detailed study by NCPP of the evidence on health impact and cost effectiveness of 25 clinical preventive services including 21 services recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force. The first of these issue briefs were distributed at the July 2009 NCPP meeting.

Since 2003, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has looked to Captus for its signature publication: the annual industry profile.

After meeting with the PhRMA team, a Captus writer draws up an outline that, after months of research, writing and editing, ultimately becomes the profile's text. The book covers such topics as annual worldwide sales, research and development costs, issues facing the biopharmaceutical industry, health concerns, and corporate giving.

The design department is tasked with coming up with a unique look for the book every year – a look that will carry across multiple projects and formats, including a PowerPoint presentation and a laminated card of key facts. The industry profile is one of the most-used publications at PhRMA, serving as the go-to for the latest industry information.

The Biotechnology Institute asked Captus to write the first in a series of position papers on the critical need for reform of science education in the United States. The Biotechnology Institute, in conjunction with national scientific and educational organizations, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is dedicated to educating teachers, students and the public about the promise and challenges of biotechnology.

The American Academy of Pediatrics asked Captus to help them develop a manual to assist pediatricians when talking to patients with limited health literacy, meaning those who just don't understand health issues, as well as those for whom English isn't a native language. Captus worked with dozens of specialists to research and develop the copy, and provided AAP with a complete manuscript.

Plain Language Pediatrics includes tips on talking with patients and, more importantly for pediatricians, their patients' parents, in terms they could understand, despite any limits to their literacy. The book, broken out by health condition, includes lists of common health-related words and the plain-language counterparts that pediatricians can substitute. Captus also developed patient stories that demonstrate common pitfalls and ways to improve communication and, therefore, improve patients compliance with treatment. The book also notes special cultural exceptions and explains how various cultures view certain conditions. The final product also includes plain-language handouts in both English and Spanish that pediatricians were encouraged to distribute to their patients.

Facing image assaults on many fronts, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) wanted to arm its representatives across the country with answers to many of the questions that are asked of them in the field. After listing the issues and providing some basic information, PhRMA engaged Captus to create a toolkit to educate the field representatives about issues surrounding the pharmaceutical industry.

The issues fell into three categories: Prevention, Access and Innovation. The fact sheets covered a broad array of issues, including direct-to-consumer advertising, medical liability, disparity of care, using medicines safely, and personalized medicine. Captus researched and wrote a two-page fact sheet on each issue, and then compiled the sheets into a three-panel folder designed by the Captus art department. PhRMA was so pleased with the toolkit that they hired Captus again to reengineer the issue sheets into a notebook for another PhRMA program designed to educate industry employees.

When AAP undertook the revision and update of the Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents, 3rd Edition, they turned to Captus for health writing, reference research, and editorial assistance to produce the 600+ page publication, which is considered the gold standard of pediatric preventive care.

This award-winning book, which was years in the making, provides a wealth of information, which Captus writers then adapted and repurposed into:

• A handy pocket guide for use by pediatric residents and health providers
• Handouts on health promotion themes
• Fact sheets
• Newsletter content for the multidisciplinary audiences served by the Bright Futures initiative

Captus also led the redesign of the Bright Futures Web site, including writing content, developing monthly health promotion messages, and writing and producing videos to promote awareness of the initiative and the third edition of the guidelines. Captus provides ongoing support in program development, writing, editing, Web site maintenance, strategic and planning services for this important child health promotion initiative.