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Communicating Breast Cancer Screening With Young Women: An Experimental Test of Didactic and Narrative Messages Using Video and Infographics.
Journal article

Communicating Breast Cancer Screening With Young Women: An Experimental Test of Didactic and Narrative Messages Using Video and Infographics.

  • Occa A a Department of Communication Studies, School of Communication , University of Miami , Coral Gables , Florida , USA.
  • Suggs LS b BeCHANGE Research Group, Institute for Public Communication, Faculty of Communication Sciences , Università della Svizzera Italiana , Lugano , Switzerland.
  • 2015-07-07
Published in:
  • Journal of health communication. - 2016
Adolescent
Adult
Breast Neoplasms
Breast Self-Examination
Computer Graphics
Early Detection of Cancer
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Health Communication
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Intention
Language
Narration
Surveys and Questionnaires
Videotape Recording
Young Adult
English Cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world. Mortality from breast cancer can be reduced if the cancer is detected early enough. It is important to find effective communication that encourages early detection of breast cancer. This study aimed to measure differences between narrative and didactic communication on breast cancer awareness, knowledge of appropriate diagnostic exams, attitude toward breast self-exam, and intention to screen for breast cancer through a breast self-exam. It further aimed to test whether any differences in outcomes were associated with the format used to deliver the communication: video or infographic. The effects of the communication strategies were tested using an experimental design with a control group and four experimental groups: narrative video, didactic video, narrative infographic, or didactic infographic. A total of 194 Italian-speaking women ages 18-30 years completed questionnaires before and after exposure. Positive increases were found for all outcome variables after exposure to any communication strategy tested. The didactic message delivered in video format had the most positive effect on awareness and knowledge, whereas the narrative video message had the most positive effect on attitude and intention. For both message types, videos had a more positive influence than infographics when communicating breast cancer information for this audience. This was the first study of message effects of breast cancer communication with Italian-speaking young women. Further research is warranted to understand how to maximize communication strategies so that they are the most effective in influencing behaviors and if these results are consistent with other linguistic populations.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/13622
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