Harty Nicole M, Le Grice Kirstin, Cahill Christi, Bull Sheana, Dwyer Andrea
Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
Mhealth. 2018 Oct 31;4:50. doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2018.10.02. eCollection 2018.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the US but is preventable with timely colonoscopy screening. Although CRC incidence and mortality have been decreasing and screening rates increasing, southeastern Coloradans in particular remain in great need of CRC screening. Media outreach campaigns have previously proven successful in this region, and local clinical partners expressed interest in text messaging and social media community outreach.
The Colorado Cancer Screening Program partnered with the Colorado Cancer Coalition and two community health centers to develop theory-based text messages to encourage cancer screening behavior. Participants were recruited into this text message program through 4 weeks of radio advertisements, locally-posted flyers, and 12 weeks of social media messaging asking community members to text a key word or enter their phone number online to receive additional information about cancer screening.
Facebook advertisement proved to be the most successful in engaging community members in the outreach campaign with over 22,600 exposed to ads. Radio and print advertisements were less successful than previous campaigns suggested. Theory-based text messages were effective in maintaining interest in the topic of cancer screening. Ninety-six percent of text message participants remained enrolled through receipt of all CRC messages.
The EndCancer campaign provides evidence of strategies that can be used to reach hard-to-reach and hard-to-screen populations in need of CRC screening. Engagement was high with Facebook ads, and those who viewed ads clicked through to the sign-up page, an indication of intent to enroll. Given the promising results of engagement with Facebook ads among the target demographic, social media marketing may prove a successful avenue to enroll hard-to-reach populations into cancer screening educational initiatives.
结直肠癌（CRC）是美国癌症死亡的第二大主要原因，但通过及时的结肠镜检查筛查是可预防的。尽管结直肠癌的发病率和死亡率一直在下降，筛查率也在上升，但科罗拉多州东南部的居民尤其仍亟需进行结直肠癌筛查。此前已证明媒体宣传活动在该地区取得了成功，当地临床合作伙伴对短信和社交媒体社区宣传表示出兴趣。
科罗拉多癌症筛查项目与科罗拉多癌症联盟及两家社区卫生中心合作，制定基于理论的短信以鼓励癌症筛查行为。通过为期4周的广播广告、当地张贴的传单以及为期12周的社交媒体信息招募参与者，邀请社区成员发送关键词或在线输入电话号码以获取有关癌症筛查的更多信息。
事实证明，Facebook广告在吸引社区成员参与宣传活动方面最为成功，超过22,600人看到了广告。广播和印刷广告不如之前的活动所显示的那么成功。基于理论的短信在保持对癌症筛查主题的兴趣方面很有效。96%的短信参与者通过接收所有结直肠癌短信仍保持参与状态。
“终结癌症”活动提供了可用于接触需要进行结直肠癌筛查的难以接触和难以筛查人群的策略的证据。Facebook广告的参与度很高，看到广告的人点击进入了注册页面，这表明有注册的意向。鉴于在目标人群中与Facebook广告互动取得了令人鼓舞的结果，社交媒体营销可能是将难以接触的人群纳入癌症筛查教育倡议的一条成功途径。
