innovations conference 2014 leissa pitts the cancer good news project
DESCRIPTION
Leissa Pitts - The Cancer Good News ProjectTRANSCRIPT
CANCER GOOD NEWSPROJECT
Addressing cancer stigma &
promoting help-seeking within
Serbian & Macedonian
communities of the Illawarra
Cancer Institute NSW
Innovations in Cancer Treatment and
Care Conference
17th October 2014
Background
CALD communities:• strongly associate cancer with certain death and fatalism• experience cancer related stigma, myths and cultural
taboos that prevent open discussion of cancer • contributes to low attendance for screening and delays in
help-seeking
Formative Research
Ongoing consultation with panels of community members. Panels tested project resources at various points for;
• content• readability (i.e. use of plain language) • cultural appropriateness
8 Focus Groups
2 Community
Panels
69 male and female Serbian and Macedonian community members (20-81 years)
• explored beliefs and attitudes about cancer• the nature of cancer related stigma and
myths • cancer screening knowledge and
behaviours
Formative Research
Results• Cancer was feared, and for many was linked with death,
not with treatments or cures.• Some people knew about some of the causes of cancer,
whilst others believed cancer occurs as a result of bad luck, fate or destiny and that little can be done to prevent it
• For many in the community cancer was a difficult and uncomfortable subject to talk about
Cancer Good News Project
• Aims to reduce cancer stigma & promote screening to improve cancer outcomes
• Program developed in partnership with the Serbian and Macedonian communities of the Illawarra
• Resources emphasise Good News Facts, Tests and Stories (breast and bowel cancer)• Address beliefs about fate and destiny• Describe tests and address misinformation• Promote access to services • Provide community endorsement &
modelling
Project Goals
• Reduce stigma and taboo
- increase community discussion about cancer
- promote positive survival & screening stories
• Promote positive attitudes towards screening and cancer treatment outcomes and promote screening intentions (downstream)
• Engage community champions and story-tellers(mid stream)
• Increase community capacity to address the issue at a local level (mid stream)
• Increase capacity & build partnerships to assist with culturally competent practice within local cancer services (upstream)
Project Messages
Good News Facts about cancer survival rates (to counter beliefs that cancer is always a death sentence)
Project Messages
Good News Tests Promotion of mammogram and Faecal Occult Blood Test as a means of detecting cancer earlier and improving survival rates
“ A mammogram saved
my life. And I think that everyone has to go to have a mammogram.
Especially after 50”
Project Messages
Good News Stories of screening, early detection and survival which provide evidence from within the community of screening and survival norms
Project Resources
Multiple strategies utilised to address literacy and language barriers including:
• Radio scripts (broadcast on local and national ethnic radio)
Project Resources
• Community newsletters (print and downloadable from website)
• Good News Tests, Facts and Stories
Project Resources
• Interactive Power Point resources for use within bilingual health education seminars (downloadable)
Project Resources
• Project website (multilingual) - promotion and distribution of all project resources
• Includes audio of cancer screening and survival stories• Animation and audio of radio scripts• Downloadable newsletters and powerpoints
www.cancer-goodnews.com.au
Evaluation:Reach
Phase 1 Breast Cancer• 7,000 breast cancer newsletters disseminated • 391 local participants in community
research/forums/events• 23 community members shared stories or photos
for resources • 317 website visits • 4 months extensive airplay of breast cancer radio
messages on local ethnic radio
Evaluation:Relevance
Information/facts about breast cancer:
- grabbed my attention (89%)- was relevant to me and my family (91%)- was convincing (93%)
Screening Stories of community members:
- were relevant to me and my family(93%) - were convincing (96%)
Evaluation:Impact
“ I am not afraid anymore,
I have learnt that it is important to have
screening”
“ Great idea. Destigmatises the disease and encourages open discussions in Macedonian
community about cancer”
“ It (the project) helps people to
change their opinion about
cancer treatment”
Evaluation:Impact
“ I have learnt that early screening is very important.
The good news is very encouraging, about the
success rate in treatment”
“ it is so good to talk about it”
“ we have a good understanding about treatment and screening”
Evaluation: Impact
Phase 1 Breast Cancer Good News. Survey (n=114)• 93% agreed that the Good news stories and information
about screening had promoted discussion about cancer with family or friends
• Agreement that Mammogram is important - to reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer (92%)- to detect breast cancer early (93%)
• Agreement that ‘I know how and where mammograms can be accessed’ (95%)
• 51% of women who had never had a mammogram, were very likely or likely to have one within the next 3 months
PHASE 2 – Bowel Cancer Good News - Jul – Sept 2014
Community Capacity
Midstream
• 23 community members shared stories or photos for resources
• Improved capacity & confidence of bicultural workers to promote cancer screening within communities where discussion had been taboo
• Resources available for continued promotion and utilisation in future events
• Emerging community champions/advocates- Planned Pink Ribbon Day 2014
• Involvement of community champions & leaders in advocacy with CINSW
Partnerships
Upstream • Creation of effective inter-agency partnerships to sustain
and build on project activities• reorient services towards culturally competent practice• Potential scalability
Lessons Learned
• Partnerships developed early in the project underpinned project success (UOW, Multicultural Health Services, Cancer Council
NSW and Cancer Care Services)
• Involvement of local bi-cultural health workers critical for community engagement and insight
• Importance of community role models and leaders for effective dissemination and support of key messages
• Emphasis on participatory research enabled; - improved community engagement- cultural tailoring of resources for audience segments - community ownership of project
Thankyou
This project was funded by the Cancer Institute NSW.
Thankyou to the Macedonian and Serbian communities in the Illawarra.
Questions?
CANCER GOOD NEWSPROJECT
www.cancer-goodnews.com.au