Working full time while being a part-time student certainly has its benefits. Last Thursday, the Master’s program I’m enrolled in conducted its third annual PR Lifelines in Health Care conference at its campus center in downtown Indianapolis.

PR Lifelines in Health Care is presented by the Indiana University School of Journalism Master of Arts in Public Relations program at IUPUI. The conference is designed to provide PR professionals, in the health care and life science industries of central Indiana, with some of the latest communications tools, information and strategies that can be a “lifeline” to new ideas and innovative programs involving health care. I had the opportunity to attend not only as a graduate student studying PR health care but also as a representative of Borshoff.

The day-long event was divided into two break-out sessions with three different health care speakers to choose from per session. Guest speakers included representatives from GlaxoSmithKline, Jasper County Hospital, Edelman Health Chicago, IU Health and Franciscan St. Francis Health.

There were many important takeaways from the conference. What stood out most was a discussion on “health engagement” – the more health critical and personal the issue is, the more engaged people want to be – and the following strategic imperatives:

• Be in a continuous  conversation;
• Inform, don’t control;
• Say—then do as you say;
• Tap multiple voices, multiple channels, multiple times;
• Make it personal; and
• Be health-engaging: entertaining, inspiring and emotive; not just educational.

I plan to use these tips, and other important advances from the conference, with my own health care clients.

Several Borshoff staff members and clients recently attended the presentation of the Hoosier PRSA Pinnacle Awards, which recognize outstanding public relations work completed in 2009.

We were excited to be named the recipients of two Pinnacle Awards…and even more excited that our clients were there with us to accept the awards!

We received Pinnacle Awards for:

• Wishard Health Services’ Senior Care Campaign
• Carle Foundation’s Hospital’s green initiative, titled “Healthy People. Happy Planet.”

Click on the links to read earlier blogs about our award-winning campaigns.

“So what has it been like, going back to Borshoff?” I’ve been asked the question a hundred times since I began my second stint at Borshoff on March 22. Every time, I grin and say, “In some ways, it’s like I never left, and in other ways, it’s a grand new adventure.”

In 2002, as a newlywed, a new stepmom and a new Hoosier, I had the great fortune of joining the team at Borshoff. The commitment to quality and the sense of teamwork made all my life changes so much easier.

Six years later with a ton of great experience in health care communications, I decided to try my hand in a corporate setting at a major health insurer, leading a team of internal communicators as we navigated through the historic health care reform debate and a rocky economy. It was an opportunity I had to take. While I have no regrets about my decision, I truly missed my Borshoff family, clients and the excitement that agency life provides.

Earlier this year, I decided to make the switch back and, lucky for me, the agency welcomed me back with open arms. It’s been exciting to get to know the new faces at Borshoff and to see the great progress and growth the firm had in the time I was away.

I’m pleased to be able to jump back into health care communications and begin making immediate contributions to my clients’ needs. My time away only served to strengthen my knowledge of the complexity of health care in America, and I hope that knowledge brings value to my clients and to the firm, as we continue to grow our health industry practice group.

In Thomas Wolfe’s novel You Can’t Go Home Again, the main character burned many bridges in his hometown and was never welcomed back. My story has a much happier ending – or is it a second beginning? I treasure the “roots” that got me started in Indiana and my time at Borshoff. I guess you could say I prefer the lyrics to the Bon Jovi song, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?”

Who says you can’t go back?
Been all around the world and as a matter of fact
There’s only one place left, I want to go
Who says you can’t go home?

My Borshoff experience has been a great lesson in the importance of relationships and being true to oneself. Making a change is often the right thing to do, but it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing forever. You really can go home again, when home is the healthy place where you belong.

Borshoff recently won industry awards including a Pinnacle Award from the Hoosier Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and several awards from Healthcare Marketing Report.

Borshoff was recognized with a PRSA Pinnacle Award for the Indianapolis Prize media relations campaign. The Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation, was initiated by the Indianapolis Zoo as a significant component of its mission to empower people and communities, both locally and globally, to advance animal conservation. Media exposure for the Indianapolis Prize increased more than 300 percent from the initial media relations campaign for the 2006 award, and earned media placements in USA Today, National Geographic Weekend Radio, CNN Radio and Voice of America, among others.

Healthcare Marketing Report recently announced its 2009 winners, and Borshoff was recognized for work with Wishard and St. Francis. Most notable was a Gold award, the highest honor, for Wishard’s Five Factors print ad series. In total, Borshoff received recognition for the following work:

• Gold – Wishard Five Factors print ad series
• Bronze – St. Francis Community Benefit Report
• Bronze – St. Francis Mooresville grand opening
• Bronze – Wishard Five Factors TV spot
• Merit – St. Francis Doctor’s Day Card
• Merit – St. Francis Spirit of Women event