Open Access“I think it is a powerful campaign and does a great job of raising awareness in young women”: Findings from Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns targeting young women in Canada
Author(s) -
Lorna Larsen
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
canadian oncology nursing journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2368-8076
pISSN - 1181-912X
DOI - 10.5737/236880763216167
Subject(s) - breast cancer , breast cancer awareness , promotion (chess) , medicine , health promotion , public health , young adult , population , family medicine , psychology , cancer , environmental health , gerontology , nursing , political science , politics , law
The purpose of this multi-year study was to replicate a successful breast cancer awareness campaign pilot, targeting young women, and evaluate the campaign effectiveness on multiple Canadian post-secondary school sites. A Canadian charity, Team Shan Breast Cancer Awareness for Young Women (Team Shan), facilitated awareness campaigns on college and university campuses across Western Canada from 2010–2016. Using a pre-post design, young women (17–29 years) on 11 targeted campus sites participated in completing pre- (n = 880) or post-campaign (n = 794) evaluation questionnaires. Questions were designed to evaluate awareness campaign activities, key take home messages, and breast cancer knowledge transfer. Team Shan was successful in developing a variety of strategies to inform young women about their risk of developing breast cancer. The campaigns made a positive impact on young women as an effective public health communication initiative. Findings support health promotion strategies to reach young women, a population at risk of developing breast cancer.