“I think it is a powerful campaign and does a great job of raising awareness in young womenâ€: Findings from Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns targeting young women in Canada

Lorna Larsen

Abstract


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. 


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References


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