Media
Kentucky Medical Association and Kentucky Foundation for Medical Care's “Small STEPS, Big Impact” Campaign Receives National Award
LOUISVILLE, KY— The Kentucky Medical Association (KMA) and the Kentucky Foundation for Medical Care (KFMC) are proud to announce that their “Small STEPS, Big Impact” public health campaign has received the 2026 American Association of Medical Society Executives (AAMSE) Profiles of Excellence Award for Communications, one of the nation's highest honors recognizing innovative communications initiatives by medical societies.
Presented annually during the AAMSE Annual Meeting, the Profiles of Excellence Awards recognize medical societies that demonstrate innovation, measurable results, and excellence in advancing their missions through strategic communications and public engagement.
Small STEPS, Big Impact was recognized for its innovative use of physician ambassadors, integrated multimedia outreach, strategic public health messaging, and overall success in helping improve health literacy while empowering physicians to serve as trusted voices for public health. The award was presented during AAMSE's Annual Meeting in Louisville on July 17.
L to R: Katie Gruber, Executive Director of AAMSE, Emily Schott, Communications Director of KMA, and Clint Cummins, President of the AAMSE Board of Directors.
Launched in January 2025 as a partnership between KMA and KFMC, with generous funding from the Kentucky Department for Public Health, Small STEPS, Big Impact encourages Kentuckians to make simple lifestyle changes through five key focus areas, the acronym of which spells STEPS: Screenings, Tobacco Use, Exercise & Nutrition, Physician Visits, and Stress Management. The initiative was conceived by the groups after it was announced that Kentucky ranked 41st in the nation in overall health by the 2023 America’s Health Rankings Report, published annually by the UnitedHealth Foundation. The campaign combines physician leadership with strategic messaging to deliver trusted, evidence-based health information through digital advertising, television, public service announcements, social media, podcasts, earned media, and continuing medical education.
"Making huge changes to your health can be daunting,” said KMA Immediate Past-President Evelyn Montgomery Jones, who led the initiative during its first year. “From the very beginning, our goal was to empower Kentucky patients to make those improvements through simple, sustainable lifestyle changes. And we as their physicians, would be walking beside them each step of the journey. This partnership approach and our desire to meet Kentuckians where they are is what I think resonated so much with patients and communities.”
Current KMA President Jiapeng Huang, MD, added, “This was a two-year initiative for KMA, something we had never done. I’m very proud of the physicians who participated and consider the Award to be the capstone of a very successful, and much needed public health initiative.”
Twelve physicians from across Kentucky completed media and public speaking training before becoming STEPS Physician Ambassadors, serving as trusted public health communicators through television interviews, public service announcements, podcasts, community outreach, and social media. Together with KMA leadership, these physicians helped bring evidence-based health information directly to Kentuckians.
During the nearly two-year campaign, Small STEPS, Big Impact generated more than 4 million digital advertising impressions, engaged more than 400 physicians through six continuing medical education programs, and connected thousands of Kentuckians with trusted health resources through its website, SmallSTEPSKy.org. Campaign messages reached audiences through statewide digital advertising, streaming television, physician interviews, podcasts, public service announcements, and educational programming.
KMA and KFMC extend their sincere appreciation to the Kentucky Department for Public Health for its vision, partnership, and generous support of the Small STEPS, Big Impact campaign. The Department's investment made it possible to create a physician-led initiative that empowered physicians to become stronger communicators, encouraged healthier lifestyles, and improved public health across the Commonwealth.
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About KMA
The Kentucky Medical Association is a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization that supports physician members and their patients with a variety of services. The KMA, established in 1851, represents and supports nearly 7,000 physicians, physician residents, and medical students across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Learn more about the KMA and its programs at www.kyma.org.
About KFMC
Founded by the Kentucky Medical Association in 1971, the Kentucky Foundation for Medical Care (KFMC) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to improving the health of all Kentuckians through medical education and public health initiatives.
