Apr
27
Posted by Maddie Romansic on April 27th, 2021
Posted in: Blog, News from Network Members, News from NNLM, News From NNLM PNR, Technology
Action Health Partners in Wenatchee, Washington received a Technology Improvement Award from the NNLM PNR to improve their website in order to provide greater information on and access to AHP services, and better engage and build relationships with volunteers and donors. Here is a report of their project from Paige Bartholomew, Network Support Services Program Coordinator.
Increasing Service Access and Building Relationships Through a Website Update
In 2018, Action Health Partners underwent an organizational rebrand process when the current organizational services no longer aligned with the original charter. Since the rebranding, the Action Health Partners’ website had not had the opportunity to fully reflect those changes.
Redesigning the website to make their services and programs more accessible was a priority for staff as they recognized that a lack of clear understanding of the services provided can be a barrier for accessing programs and building meaningful relationships. Action Health Partners serves a multi-county region in central and eastern Washington State where most counties served are designated as medically underserved areas, according to HRSA. Due to the vast rural geographic area served and the COVID-19 pandemic, it was important to have an updated website to help residents know the services available to them and how to safely access them.
The two goals for the project were: one, improve the Action Health Partners website to provide greater information on and access to services; and two, better engage and build relationships with volunteers and donors. Engaging and building relationships is imperative for Action Health Partners’ long-term success. As a non-profit, relationships with donors are important for financial sustainability and relationships with volunteers are important for greater access and reach of services.
Action Health Partners worked with Lake Chelan Creative Marketing to redesign the website. A website workgroup was formed to guide and oversee the website update process, consisting of five staff representing the various programs. Program leads were asked to review the old website verbiage on their program pages and make any changes they saw fit. New content was created as well. The workgroup revised the website content and verbiage before sending it to Lake Chelan Creative Marketing in November 2020. Lake Chelan Creative Marketing took the website content and verbiage and used their expertise to help make it more appealing. There were four rounds of website edits before the website was launched in March 2021.
The website has vastly improved. Action Health Partners’ three core service networks all have their own webpages with program content and contact information; prior to the update, two of the three core service networks were represented. To better engage and build relationships with volunteers, Action Health Partners consolidated the multiple website “Contact Us” form into one volunteer interest form making it easier for potential volunteers to get involved. A “Donate” page was created to better connect with donors. Bablic was selected as the website’s translation services where the website can be translated to Spanish and Russian.
Since the website launched in March, there has been in increase in website traffic. Prior to September 2020, over the course of a month Action Health Partners approximately got 200 unique visits and 500 page views. For the month of March 2021, there were 382 unique visits and 1,127 page views.
This project helped Action Health Partners make their services and programs more accessible to residents and start building better relationships with potential donors and volunteers. It would not have been possible without the dedication of Action Health Partner staff and Lake Chelan Creative Marketing.
Check out the updated Action Health Partners website.