Q:

Hi Dr. Margolies,

I practice in a very rural town which is focused primarily on general 
health care.  We see some PI/WC and because a lot of our patients 
are poor/disabled, we see a lot of Medicaid & Medicare.  The patients 
(esp. the women) are very poor and for the most part, many of them 
are barely high school graduates.  We have tailored our talks with 
them to the most basic of language, we use a lot of visual aids.  But, 
what I wanted to ask you was this.  I am interested in doing an 
outreach program for domestic abuse / rape survivors.  I am the only 
woman in our group, and we have no staff to speak of, although I do 
have people that we use to help with marketing.  Do you have any 
ideas on how to approach this?  The people here are for the most 
part illiterate, so a lot of the brochures/written material is lost.  If 
you are so inclined and have the time, can you email me back with 
your thoughts.  Thank you in advance for any insight you may have.

A:

Thanks for your e-mail. First off .. marketing is marketing no matter 
the size of the city .. just has to be tailored for your specific 
demographic farm. If you have my Smart Start Book find it and dust 
it off and begin from the beginning reviewing the second half of each 
chapter for some marketing ideas. Obviously the material may have 
to be adjusted to accommodate the limited patient base with income 
but with very creative cash or wellness plans you can do well. As far 
as creating a women¼s abuse outreach program you should first start 
with the county and state women¼s abuse and rape programs and 
hotlines. They may guide you with either written material and/or 
staff support. If they have neither but appreciate your concern see if 
you can form a county chapter and find some special patients to 
assist getting it off the ground. You can possibly start a ground floor 
effort. See if you can get some local newspaper and radio/TV folks 
aware of your efforts and possibly help you spearhead the program 
from your office and/or county/city center or church. Using patients 
or a women¼s civic or church group to assist you will be a win-win .. 
win for your office exposing new people to your office with some 
meetings and helping those who need the help the most. 

I am sure there is a state outreach association if not in the county .. 
if for some strange reason there is none .. there for sure is a 
national group that may welcome your idea to start an outreach 
program in your small town. Check the web for some advice or the 
local library. Remember .. get some patients involved possibly as a 
barter service .. you adjust them and they work with you a few hours. 

This is the best advice I can offer you today unless you have some 
specific questions. 

Have a Great Day and Good Luck


Dr. M