Lung Cancer Screening Awareness Campaign in Rural Michigan

Authors:

Steven Springer (Presenter)
Michigan Departmtent of Health and Human Services

Angela McFall, Michigan Departmtent of Health and Human Services
Polly Hager, Michigan Departmtent of Health and Human Services

Public Health Statement: The National Lung Screening Trial demonstrated a 20% reduction in deaths from lung cancer in current or former heavy smokers ages 55–74 who received screening.

Purpose: An estimated 8,190 Michigan residents will be diagnosed with lung cancer and 5,650 will die of the disease in 2017. The National Lung Cancer Screening Trial demonstrated a 20% reduction in deaths from lung cancer in current or former heavy smokers ages 55–74 who received screening. Cancer registry data identified Michigan regions with higher than average lung cancer incidence and mortality rates.

Methods/Approach: A lung cancer screening awareness campaign was developed to target the identified regions. The multicomponent media campaign, ‘A Light of Hope,’ included creative gas station advertising, a radio public service announcement, and Google Display/Google AdWords. Market research indicates people age 55 and older visit gas stations approximately 4–5 times per month, and that gas stations and convenience stores sell more than 60% of tobacco products.

Results: Total audience reach for radio was 2,577,300. Google Display clickthrough rate (ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view a page) was 0.40%, with the benchmark being 0.15%. Google AdWords showed a better clickthrough rate for keywords related to lung cancer than keywords related to smoking.

Conclusions/Implications: Cancer data and market research were used to target and deliver this campaign. Current or former smokers were encouraged to discuss lung cancer screening with their doctor. One campaign objective was to drive traffic to a related website for more information. People who saw the digital ads clicked through to the website at a rate 2.5 times higher than the industry standard.