Swing Bed Campaign

The “Between Healing and Home” campaign highlights the additional recovery time that swing bed/transitional care services provide patients and notes that, even though it’s an extra step, the additional care can actually shorten recovery time. By providing patients with the tools they need to live independently, swing beds/transitional care services allow patients to return home safely and successfully — and with a reduced risk of relapsing. “Shortening the distance,” a phrase that appears in campaign materials, also has a double meaning and speaks to the patient’s choice to rehab at a facility nearer to their home, even if their care was done at a neighboring health care system. This choice to recover closer to home is beneficial and convenient for both patients and their families.

Campaign Objectives 

• Educate health care consumers about the swing bed program (what it is and what a stay in the program looks like). 
• Empower health care consumers with the knowledge that they can choose to recover in their local swing bed program. 
• Grow the number of referrals to the transitional care program.

Target Audiences

• Current Patients (men and women, ages 65+) 
  • This audience includes patients who are receiving acute hospital care. The transitional care program can be a more convenient and cost-effective recovery option. 
• Prospective Patients (men and women, ages 65+) 
  • This audience includes community members who undergo procedures at other hospitals/larger medical centers and might think they need to stay there for post-operative care.  
• Physicians/Discharge Planners  
  • This audience includes those who are in charge of referring patients for follow-up care. Physicians and discharge planners share options as to where patients could receive post-surgery or illness care, and what type of care they need. 

Campaign Materials

Brochure

An educational brochure that's designed to build understanding and awareness of your swing bed program.

Newspaper Ads

Newspaper ads help you connect with current and prospective patients.

• Swing Bed Campaign Newspaper script #1 (1.15 MB)
• Swing Bed Campaign Newspaper Script #2 (1.11 MB)

Poster

An in-house poster helps to strengthen patient understanding of services available at your organization.

Additional Educational Tools

Customize Templates for Your Community

The main image in all print materials can be replaced with stock or custom photography, based on community demographics and your intended audience — to best match the diversity of your community. The Customizable Communications Toolkit for Rural Hospitals and Clinics User Guide offers more information about the toolkit and includes instructions for customization. Templates are available as a downloadable PDF for print materials and can be customized using Adobe Acrobat Pro, saving time, effort, and cost when developing new communication materials.

Microsoft Word is required for customization of internal education materials.

Provide Feedback

If you have questions or suggestions that would make this toolkit more useful, share them by completing our website feedback form or email clozinski@ruralcenter.org.