Health Professionals

The “Choicies Awards" Kit

There are many people championing Choosing Wisely – demonstrating their commitment to promoting the principles of Choosing Wisely in their day-to-day activities.

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Recognise a Choosing Wisely Champion

Choosing Wisely Australia is an initiative that seeks to empower both consumers and health professionals to have conversations about what tests, treatments and procedures are really necessary. There are many people championing Choosing Wisely – demonstrating their commitment to promoting the principles of Choosing Wisely in their day-to-day activities.

NPS MedicineWise and Choosing Wisely Australia encourage members and supporters to acknowledge these Champions through the “Choicies Awards”.

Benefits of recognising a Champion

There are many benefits to recognising a Choosing Wisely Champion at your organisation:

It’s a great way to acknowledge the efforts of individuals and teams who are leading the way in effecting a culture shift in how we think about healthcare delivery.
It recognises the breadth of people with different roles (leaders, clinicians, consumers) working towards a common goal of reducing unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures.
It’s another way to encourage and support an ongoing conversation about what care is truly necessary within your organisation.
It can promote local activities you are undertaking as part of the Choosing Wisely initiative.
It can motivate and encourage people to become involved in the Choosing Wisely initiative.
It’s a good way to share Choosing Wisely stories and ideas across organisations.
Recognition of your organisation and staff by Choosing Wisely Australia and NPS MedicineWise.

How NPS MedicineWise and Choosing Wisely will work with your organisation

NPS MedicineWise and Choosing Wisely Australia will:

Promote Choosing Wisely Champions through a profile or an interview which may be published on the Choosing Wisely Australia website, newsletters, in the media and on social media.
Assist the nominating organisation to recognise the work of their nominees through local publications and speaking opportunities.

How to implement the "Choicies Awards"

Use this step-by-step guide to implement "Choicies Awards" in your organisation. It is recommended you liaise with your Executive and Communications Teams to help foster interest and engagement across your organisation.

Determine engagement and participation

Discuss with your organisation’s Executive to determine the appetite for implementing the "Choicies Awards".
Engage the support of your Communications Team.
Determine how often you will run the awards – yearly, twice-yearly, quarterly.
Choose a launch date.
Develop a communications plan around this date. This plan should include activities for before and after launch.
Determine who will be the point of contact for enquiries.

Introduce the awards by implementing a “Teaser” campaign

Use the “Teaser” email provided to create your introductory message to staff.
Develop posters for display in tea rooms, bathrooms and on your intranet.
Display these posters to coincide with sending out the “Teaser” email to staff.
Discuss at team meetings.
Build anticipation.

Launch the awards and open nominations

Publish the “About the Choicies Awards” information and Nomination Form on your intranet.
Develop new posters for display in tea rooms, bathrooms and on your intranet announcing the awards are open.
Use the “Launch” email as a base to announce the awards are open, to call for nominations and point to where staff can find more information.
Options for launch could include an all-staff email, an event, and new posters calling for nominations and where to find more information.
Be sure to include a deadline for receiving nominations.

Determining the winner(s)

Establish a review panel within your organisation to determine the award recipients. This could include Department Heads, Executive members etc.
The panel should select a number of finalists and an overall winner, or you may wish to recognise several Champions.

Awarding the winner(s)

Decide on how your organisation would like to celebrate the awards. This could be presentations at an all-staff gathering or a smaller gathering of staff within a particular department.
A joint-branded certificate (Choosing Wisely Australia and your organisation) is available for you to present to your Choosing Wisely Champions.
Other rewards could also be presented to the winner(s) at the discretion of your organisation.

Promoting the award winner(s)

Promotional activities could include a print story/video interview featured in your organisation’s newsletter, Choosing Wisely Australia website, and other channels used by Choosing Wisely Australia, such as e-newsletters, media and social media, and annual reports.

Capture more information about the winner(s) using the “Case Study Form” provided. Ideally this would be completed by the winner that can be quoted.
Take high-resolution (300dpi) photos that demonstrate the winners’ Choosing Wisely activities.
Share the Nomination Form, Case Study Form and photos with Choosing Wisely Australia.

NEW National Choosing Wisely Champions Awards

Choosing Wisely Australia has launched a National Choosing Wisely Champions Awards to recognise Choosing Wisely Champions. There are four categories for nominations:

Health professional (individual)
Consumer (individual)
Student (individual)
Organisation or team.

National Choosing Wisely Champions Awards nomination form available here.

Nominations need to be submitted to [email protected] by COB Friday 01 April 2022.

The inaugural National Choosing Wisely Champions Award winners will be announced at the 2022 Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting on 03 May 2022.