A Woman-to-Woman Approach to Increasing Knowledge about Gynecologic Cancer: CDC's Inside Knowledge Campaign

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: 

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health, is developing and implementing the Inside Knowledge: Get the Facts About Gynecologic Cancer campaign. The initiative is designed to increase awareness of women and health care providers about gynecologic cancer. This campaign supports the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005, or Johanna’s Law. The principal communication objectives of Inside Knowledge are to 1) increase awareness of gynecologic cancers, and their risk factors, warning signs, and symptoms among women and health care providers; 2) promote general discussion of gynecologic cancers between women and their health care providers; and 3) encourage women to ask their health care providers about gynecologic cancers when faced with warning signs.

Methods:   To inform campaign development, CDC and its campaign communications contractor conducted formative research. A total of 48 focus groups with 408 women (31 English groups with 262 participants, and 17 Spanish groups with 146 participants) ages 40 to 60 were conducted in seven cities (Miami; New York; Los Angeles; Houston; Las Vegas; Atlanta; and Chicago) from March – August, 2009.    

Results:    Generally, women had heard of some types (cervical, ovarian, uterine) of gynecologic cancers. They were largely unfamiliar with symptoms, risk factors, and screening options. There was a common misconception that the Pap test screens for several types of gynecologic cancers in addition to cervical cancer. Participants consistently indicated a desire to learn more. When shown creative concepts, participants in English- and Spanish-language groups expressed a preference to see ‘real’ women (not necessarily actors) of various ages and ethnicities, especially women who had survived or had a personal connection to gynecologic cancer. Some participants said that celebrities might capture their attention and they relayed stories about specific celebrities who had been public about having cancer. However, others said that celebrities don’t have the same issues as ‘real’ women related to access and treatment. They also appreciated including a message that was hopeful, i.e. that someone had survived these cancers.

Conclusions:     Testimonials can be very compelling in health communication. As such, the campaign includes ‘real’ women in its materials. A diverse group of gynecologic cancer survivors of different ages, races/ethnicities, and having different gynecologic cancers are prominently featured in several campaign pieces.  

Implications for research and/or practice:     We will share how our research findings translated into actionable guidance for designing campaign materials. We will detail the painstaking and challenging process of identifying ‘real’ women through outreach to campaign partners, advocacy groups, and others who focus on cancer and/or specific subsets of women. In addition, we will explain how we worked with CDC scientists to vet the survivor stories against important criteria, ensuring that the women’s stories would be easily relatable to other women, made sense scientifically and medically, and were consistent with campaign messaging. Lastly, we will describe the process of formally engaging ‘real’ women in the campaign.