Hiking Is a Great Way to Enjoy Having a Healthy Lifestyle. This Campaign Was Created to Raise Prostate Cancer Awareness

Amount raised: $1500.00 Background and context: Evidence for the role of physical activity in cancer incidence is well known and increases cancer survivorship. Cancer survivors as well as new patients would like to have a more active role in their health care, including what diet and lifestyle changes they should make. Since physical exercise has attracted increasing interest in our country we decided to do and experience the first hiking activity suggested by the Honduran Urology Society as an excellent way to raise awareness about prostate cancer and how to prevent it. Aim: The key aim was to raise awareness among men and their families and therefore organize the Prostate Cancer Association for Patients since there is none in Honduras. Strategy/Tactics: We started an alliance with the doctors from Honduran National Society of Urology so they could be the official spokesman for this activity. We contacted radio stations and TV health programs in order for the physicians to educate and publicized the event. Networking the activity on social media and decided on a Sunday as the day of the event since most people were off from work and school. November was chosen as it commemorates Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. A public facility was the place chosen since it had been shortly renovated and would be an attraction for men and their families. Program process: Since prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men, we felt the need to get involved in this activity. We contacted town officials to find out if a permit was needed. We also requested local businesses to donate T-shirts, drinks and food for the participants. We asked businesses to place campaign publicity on visible areas of shopping centers. We contacted a fitness instructor to donate an hour of his time for this cause. Once the T-shirt donation arrived we had printed a logo as a symbol for our campaign. Costs and returns: Since the very beginning we decided to get the most from this campaign by getting almost everything donated and the outcome was surprisingly a positive reaction. Donated kits with a T-shirt and a water bottle were given in exchange of a registration fee of $10, there was no fee from the hiking park. What was learned: With proper tools, educating patients for early detection may be the key to successful treatment. We all can better understand the facts about prostate cancer, who it affects and what you can do about it. We learned that we made such a great team working together as one and looking forward to our 2 nd hiking event for 2018.