The Positive Social Norms campaign has once again launched in Jasper, and this year’s project is seeing drastic changes in the data collected over the past three years. 

The Enjoy Jasper Responsibly campaign is following the same themes as last year, says Michael Quick, Social Norms co-ordinator. Those themes are to encourage moderate drinking, stop vandalism and promote safe sex.

This is the third year the campaign has been operating in Jasper, and after this year, there will be a three-year evaluation to determine how effective it has been. Quick says they have seen many of the stats change drastically from one year to the next. 

This year’s statistics were gathered from 374 young adults aged 18 to 30 throughout the community. Quick says they go where young adults congregate – staff orientations, bars – to distribute surveys and information. Volunteers also go out to bars to deliver information, give away prizes and set up posters. 

“We circulate anywhere young adults hang out together,” Quick said. 

The poster campaign, along with radio, newspaper and YouTube ads, helps get the word out, but connecting with young adults is the other side of the project. They organize fun events to welcome new people to Jasper such as barbecues, and encourage people to get involved in the community no matter how long they plan on being in town. 

“We’re always trying to reach as many young adults as possible,” Quick says. “We don’t make up the stats.”

At the orientations, Quick says they try to reflect back the positive things happening in the community. The young adults are connected to alternatives to partying, such as mountain biking, volunteering and more. 

With two years complete, Quick said the stats are starting to really reflect changes in attitude. The Social Norms survey has two parts; one asks what young adults are doing, and the other asks what they think others are doing. In the first year of the program, there was a large gap between what the young adults thought everyone else was doing, compared to who was actually participating in things like violence, unsafe sex and binge drinking. This year, that gap is closing. 

“People’s perceptions are more accurate than the first year,” Quick said.

One specific example is condom use. Many people answered that their peers were not practising safe sex in the first year of the campaign. Now, the gap has closed and it is more accurate to how many people are actually using condoms every time. 

There has been a decrease in reports of vandalism in Jasper as well, which is reflected in the surveys. Quick says that 95 per cent of the respondents said they never vandalize. 

Before any of the posters hit the streets, Quick says they do focus testing so that people beyond Community Outreach Services get to see the posters and critique them and the messages being delivered. This year a professional photographer was used, and hair and make-up was done by local salons to make the photos look more professional. The posters feature long-time locals and new Jasperites. 

“We try to make it fun to be involved in the posters,” Quick says. 

The impact is already being felt by the models – Quick says one woman has been asked multiple times to autograph the poster she stars in. The campaign focuses on new and temporary Jasperites, and hopes to engage long-time residents to help spread the message.

New this year is a YouTube channel that debuted at the HIV West Yellowhead Fashion Show on July 9. Enjoy Jasper Responsibly also has a Facebook page.

Quick says the ultimate message of the Positive Social Norms campaign is to come to Jasper, have a great time but keep yourself safe – and leave with no regrets. 

Enjoy Jasper Responsibly is made possible by a partnerships between HIV West Yellowhead, Community Outreach Services, The Skinny and Alberta Health Services.