American Kidney Fund's Goutful Campaign Wins 2019 Bulldog Stars of PR Award

Materials for renal professionals and consumers recognized for excellence in health care communication

ROCKVILLE, Md. (July 3, 2019) – The American Kidney Fund (AKF) today announced it has won a Silver 2019 Bulldog Stars of PR Award in the Best Not-for-Profit/ Association Campaign category for its Goutful campaign. 

Goutful, a blend of the words "gout" and "doubtful," debunks popular misconceptions about gout and helps chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients understand their risk for gout. The campaign fills an information void for patients, who often face significant stigma because gout is commonly misunderstood and misperceived as being caused by overindulgence.

The Bulldog Stars of PR Awards, run by Bulldog Reporter, are the only PR and communications awards judged solely by journalists. Competition for the 2019 awards was steep, as a "record-breaking number of entries" was received, according to Bulldog Reporter.

Goutful uses an educational webpage, artwork and a "Myths & Facts" quiz to debunk many of the misconceptions people have about gout — including the common beliefs that gout is the patient's fault and that gout isn't a serious condition. The campaign is part of AKF's ongoing work to provide quality health education content to the CKD community and is supported by an unrestricted grant from Horizon Therapeutics plc. The Goutful campaign and graphics were designed in collaboration with JPA Health Communications.