Journal Thoracic Oncology

Abstracts Journal of Thoracic Oncology • Volume 12 Issue S1 January 2017
cancer awareness campaign. Enabling health professionals and establishing
accessible services to address lung health with high risk populations in a
supportive manner will improve early detection of lung cancer.
Keywords: Ireland, awareness, Primary Care, Barriers
POSTER SESSION 2 – P2.08: PATIENT SUPPORT AND ADVOCACY GROUPS
OTHER –
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016
P2.08-015 PROMOTING LUNG CANCER AWARENESS IN IRELAND -
BALANCING TRADITIONAL AND DIGITAL PLATFORMS
Aoife Mcnamara
Information Development, Irish Cancer Society, Dublin/Ireland
Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Ireland, in
both men and women*. Incidence of the disease continues to increase and the
majority of Irish lung cancer patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage**.
The Irish Cancer Society runs an annual lung cancer awareness campaign
promoting awareness of the signs and symptoms and the importance of early
detection. A variety of mediums are utilised including production of printed
and online information, promotion via online and social media platforms
and targeting the media through radio, TV, online advertorials and regional
print advertising. Methods: In 2016, following previous success online, we
replicated an interactive symptom checker developed by the Australian Lung
Foundation. The purpose of this online tool was to promote lung cancer
awareness and early detection, the public were encouraged to complete
the checker and bring their results to their general practitioner (GP). The
symptom checker was promoted through various media platforms and this
ultimately lead to the success of the project. Results: The campaign goal was
1,720 online health checker completions (25% of benchmarked lung cancer
section website visitors). Result: There were 12,185 views of the checker. 3,145
people completed the checker with 2,801 downloading the result for their GP.
Conclusion: A strong call to action to the online checker was valuable as it gave
a tangible action to the public. The media played a key role in promoting the
campaign message to our targeted audience and contributed to the overall
success of the campaign demonstrating the benefit of balancing traditional
and digital platforms.
Keywords: Ireland, Digital, campaign, awareness
S586 Journal of Thoracic Oncology • Volume 12 Issue S1 January 2017