Colorectal Cancer Screening Promotion: Evaluation of a Pilot Campaign and Implications for a Statewide Rollout

Background:  The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) received a CDC grant to increase colorectal cancer screening rates among Oregonians aged 50 to 75. One component of its approach is a public education and social marketing campaign.

Program background:  Based on original research that found Oregonians are more likely to get screened if they’re encouraged by someone they trust, Metropolitan Group and OHA designed a unique social marketing and public education campaign that asks already screened Oregonians to talk about their experience and encourage other people in their lives to get screened too. We pilot tested the approach in Clatsop County, Oregon, using comprehensive communication, and product, price, place and promotion strategies.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  We conducted a pre and post telephone survey and asked local providers to track an increase in the numbers of screenings they performed during the pilot test period compared to the same time frame the year before.

• Ninety-one people out of 196 in a post-pilot survey recalled seeing or hearing campaign ads, news stories and materials. People who had already been screened were more likely to recall the campaign, which is a key finding given that our primary audience is already screened Oregonians. Nearly 80 percent of survey respondents who recalled the campaign said that they agreed or strongly agreed that the campaign made them more likely to recommend colorectal cancer screening to people they knew.

• During the pilot period, Dr. Truman Sasaki, the campaign’s provider champion, performed 71 additional colonoscopies (220 total) compared to the same time frame the year before. Twenty of those patients requested screening without a referral from a primary care provider because they saw or heard the campaign, or were encouraged to get screened by someone they knew. Of the 220 colonoscopies Dr. Sasaki performed during the campaign pilot period, he found and removed polyps in 44.5 percent of the patients. Of the polyps, at least 70 percet were precancerous.

Conclusions:  Our approach of targeting already screened Oregonians (in combination with outreach and educaiton to providers) proved effective in 1) increasing awareness of the importance of colorectal cancer screening (outcome measures), and 2) preventing the cancer or catching it early (impact measures). Based on the success and lessons learned from the pilot, we have rolled the campaign out statewide. The goals are to increase screening among all Oregonians age 50 to 75 and decrease disparities related to screening and mortality in African American, Native American and rural communities. By the time of the presentation, we will be able to share year one evaluation results for the statewide rollout.

Implications for research and/or practice:  This campaign provides valuable insights into effective campaign research and planning as well as implementation and evaluation. Findings have implications for other organizations working to engage underserved audiences to reduce health inequities, and provides insights about working in prevention in the current Health Care Reform climate.