Interactive Web-Based Activities and Information
In 2005, SAMHSA hosted a new Recovery Month interactive Web site, www.recoverymonth.gov, making information on Recovery Month accessible to local communities and the general public either online or through downloadable files. Visitors had access to numerous helpful activities.
The 2005 www.recoverymonth.gov Web site won a Gold award for the World Wide Web Health Awards and was the only government Web site to win this award. The World Wide Web Health Awards recognize the best health-related Web sites for consumers and professionals - providing a "seal of quality" for electronic health information.
The Web site also won the 2005 Aesculapius Award of Excellence presented by the Health Improvement Institute. Aesculapius Awards are named for the ancient Greek god of healing. The award encourages excellence in health communications by challenging producers of health-related PSAs and WWW sites.
The 2005 Web site included materials that could be ordered online, such as the virtual Recovery Month toolkit and an electronic flyer made available for organizations hosting events. Also posted were SAMHSA press releases, additional resources and publications, proclamations, and the English and Spanish versions of the television and radio Recovery Month PSAs produced in 2004 and 2005.
Visitors could post their Recovery Month events by locality using an interactive events counter. In 2005, 508 events were posted. Many of the events were highlighted with event photos.
Webcasts
SAMHSA developed the Road to Recovery Webcasts series, in a talk and magazine show format, with a host and four guests. Eight out of the 10 were aired on the first Wednesday of the month, beginning in January and running through November. The 10 monthly Webcasts logged 17,832 views. (These figures indicate the number of times a viewer accessed the Web page, but do not necessarily reflect the number of times the supporting graphics/files were viewed.) In addition, more than 254 distinct public education government cable channels throughout the country aired the Road to Recovery series, reaching more than 14.6 million cable households, representing an estimated earned media value of $3 million. Archive copies of the Webcasts were made available on the Web immediately following the aired program and VHS video cassette tapes could be ordered via the Recovery Month Web site. The Webcast "Treatment 101: The Science and Methodologies of Treating Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders" received the largest viewership. The 2005 Webcasts are listed below:
- The 2005 Road to Recovery (1/12/05)
- Today's Recovery Movement: Remembering the Past and Planning for the Future (2/2/05)
- Treatment 101: The Science and Methodologies of Treating Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders (3/2/05)
- Binge Drinking and Youth: What Everyone Needs to Know (4/6/05)
- Treatment Approaches for Women (5/4/05)
- The Dangerous Frontiers of Substance Abuse: A Look at Alcohol and Drug Use Trends (6/1/05)
- Medication-Assisted Therapies (7/6/05)
- Addiction in the Home: Healing Lives, Families, and Communities (8/3/05)
- Recovery and Policy: How States Transform Systems of Care (9/7/05)
- Healing Lives, Families and Communities: A National Showcase of Events (11/2/05)
Two of the Webcasts were also recognized by the Omni Intermedia Awards. "The Dangerous Frontiers of Substance Abuse: A Look at Alcohol and Drug Use Trends" and "Treatment Approaches for Women", received bronze awards from the Omni Intermedia Awards for outstanding media production. The Omni Awards carries the distinction of being chosen by peers as an example of excellence.
The Web site enabled visitors to distribute news about Recovery Month. A special feature on the site was the Road to Recovery listserv, where people could sign up to receive periodic e-mail updates on activities and resources featuring Recovery Month.
New features on the Web site for 2005 include: a credit card process to order videos/DVDs of Webcasts; an additional resource area specific to each Webcast topic; welcome video clips from SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie and CSAT Director Dr. H. Westley Clark; an HTML version of the Road to Recovery listserv message; and promotional PowerPoint presentations provided in four different viewing options to help promote Recovery Month and educate people that recovery is possible.
The site experienced tremendous growth over the past two years, especially during the month of September. In September 2005, there were 157,883 unique visitors to the site, compared to 105,924 unique visitors in September 2004 - a 40 percent increase. Overall, there were 269,896 visits during September 2005, compared to 168,705 visits during September 2004 - a 60 percent increase.
From January through December 2005, the official Recovery Month Web site received more than 12.6 million hits (12,672,408 an indicator of Web server traffic) and the site logged in 605,956 "unique visitors" (an indicator of new visitors). Total unique visitors in 2005 increased 31 percent compared to 2004, and 333 percent compared to 2003.
This significant growth indicates a consistent, loyal, and continuously growing audience.
Recovery Month Web Site Hits Compared to Previous Years
| Month |
2005 Hits |
2004 Hits |
2003 Hits |
2002 Hits |
2001 Hits |
2000 Hits |
| Prior to June |
4,461,986 |
2,415,654 |
2,533,370 |
633,187 |
114,413 |
- |
| June |
939,386 |
533,355 |
683,796 |
228,496 |
127,852 |
17,507 |
| July |
1,018,337 |
693,215 |
767,676 |
284,609 |
629,657 |
37,655 |
| August |
1,734,017 |
1,169,034 |
1,231,059 |
375,530 |
212,043 |
45,988 |
| September |
2,076,098 |
1,140,801 |
1,157,533 |
452,433 |
176,016 |
51,235 |
| October |
1,136,990 |
764,454 |
614,676 |
243,100 |
85,975 |
27,983 |
| November |
752,606 |
878,528 |
474,020 |
240,932 |
57,167 |
22,033 |
| December |
552,988 |
715,477 |
337,088 |
150,957 |
55,373 |
16,238 |
| Total |
112,672,408 |
8,310,518 |
7,799,218 |
2,609,244 |
1,458,496 |
218,639 |
"Ask the Expert"
During the weeks following a Webcast's debut via the Recovery Month Web site, viewers had an opportunity to send in topic related questions to get expert advice from SAMHSA-approved experts. SAMHSA developed eight "Ask the Expert" forums that ran from February through September. The experts in 2005 answered an average of 10 questions each, which is an increase of 150 percent from 2004.
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