Health communication campaigns apply integrated strategies to deliver messages designed, directly or indirectly, to influence health behaviors of target audiences. Messages are communicated through various channels that can be categorized as:
• Mass media (e.g., television, radio, billboards)
• Small media (e.g., brochures, posters)
• Social media (e.g., Facebook©, Twitter©, web logs)
• Interpersonal communication (e.g., one-on-one or group education)

Drawing on concepts from social marketing, a health communication campaign can be combined with other activities such as distribution of products to further influence health behaviors. The current review was devised to evaluate the effectiveness of the combination of health communication campaigns that meet specific criteria with the distribution of health-related products that also meet specific criteria.

Based on strong evidence of effectiveness for producing intended behavior changes, the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends health communication campaigns that use multiple channels, one of which must be mass media, combined with the distribution of free or reduced-price health-related products.

Results of the Systematic Review:
Twenty-two studies with 25 study arms qualified for the review.

Results from analyses show that effects were favorable for the following outcomes:
• Health promoting behaviors: absolute median change of 8.4 percentage points (Interquartile Interval [IQI]: 2.7 to 14.5 percentage points;20 study arms)
-Use of child safety seats: absolute median change of 8.6 percentage points (IQI: -9.2 to 9.6 percentage points; 3 study arms)
-Use of condoms: absolute median change of 4.0 percentage points (IQI: -4.0 to 10.8 percentage points; 4 study arms)
-Use of helmets: absolute median change of 8.4 percentage points (IQI: 2.1 to 18.5 percentage points; 10 study arms)
-Smoking cessation: absolute median change of 10.0 percentage points (IQI: 3.1 to 16.9 percentage points; 3 study arms)
• The remaining 5 study arms also evaluated interventions with generally favorable results, but reported results that could not be expressed as percentage point changes in health behaviors: condom use, 2 study arms; physical activity (pedometer use), 2 study arms; and sun protection product use, 1 study.

Results suggest that health communication campaigns that include mass media, and product distribution interventions are applicable to:
• A wide variety of broad or narrowly-defined populations provided they are appropriately segmented and targeted.
• Products evaluated in this review and products that were not included but meet the criteria. Interventions were shown to be effective for:
-Both free and discounted products
-Single use (e.g., condoms) and reusable (e.g., recreational safety helmets)