KMA’s “Small STEPS, Big Impact” campaign receives national award
Kentucky Health News
The Kentucky Medical Association (KMA) and its charitable arm, the Kentucky Foundation for Medical Care (KFMC), have received the 2026 American Association of Medical Society Executives Profiles of Excellence Award for Communications for their “Small STEPS, Big Impact” public health campaign, one of the nation’s highest honors recognizing innovative communications initiatives by medical societies.
“This was a two-year initiative for KMA, something we had never done,” KMA President Dr. Jiapeng Huang said in a news release. “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.”
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,” according to the release.
The award was presented during the American Association of Medical Society Executives annual meeting in Louisville on July 17.
In response to Kentucky’s poor health statistics, KMA and KFMC launched Small STEPS, Big Impact in January 2025, with funding from the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
STEPS is an acronym for “Screenings, Tobacco use, Exercise & Nutrition, Physician Visits, and Stress.” The campaign focused on these five key areas, emphasizing the importance of regular health screenings, eliminating tobacco use, prioritizing exercise and proper nutrition, scheduling routine physician visits, and managing stress.
“Making huge changes to your health can be daunting,” said KMA 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.”
According to the release, 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.