AUTHOR=Croager Emma Jane , Gray Victoria , Pratt Iain Stephen , Slevin Terry , Pettigrew Simone , Holman C. D’arcy , Bulsara Max , Emery Jon TITLE=Find Cancer Early: Evaluation of a Community Education Campaign to Increase Awareness of Cancer Signs and Symptoms in People in Regional Western Australians JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=6 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00022 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2018.00022 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=Introduction

Cancer outcomes for people living in rural and remote areas are worse than for those living in urban areas. Although access to and quality of cancer treatment are important determinants of outcomes, delayed presentation has been observed in rural patients.

Methods

Formative research with people from rural Western Australia (WA) led to the Find Cancer Early campaign. Find Cancer Early was delivered in three regions of WA, with two other regions acting as controls. Staff delivered the campaign using a community engagement approach, including promotion in local media. Television communications were not used to minimize contamination in the control regions. The campaign evaluation was undertaken at 20 months via a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey comparing campaign and control regions. The primary outcome variable was knowledge of cancer signs and symptoms.

Results

Recognition and recall of Find Cancer Early and symptom knowledge were higher in the campaign regions. More than a quarter of those who were aware of the campaign reported seeing the GP as a result of their exposure.

Conclusion

Despite limited use of mass media, Find Cancer Early successfully improved knowledge of cancer symptoms and possibly led to changes in behavior. Social marketing campaigns using community development can raise awareness and knowledge of a health issue in the absence of television advertising.