2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening 

Black and African American people experience disproportionately high incidence and mortality rates from colorectal cancer (CRC), with CRC death rates almost 40% higher than those of white people. While screening is only one element of the work that needs to be done to address these CRC disparities, it is important to promote screening in the best way possible.

The 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening is intended to provide you with information and tools to help you work towards closing disparity gaps by using effective, tailored cancer screening messaging to help motivate people to get screened.

 

Learn More

The guidebook is a supplement to the 2019 Colorectal Cancer Screening Messaging Guidebook: Recommended Messages to Reach the Unscreened. Based on the 2019 market research findings, the NCCRT and the American Cancer Society set out to gain a deeper understanding of the barriers to screening that Black and African American people face through our market research. The overall goal of the research was to: 

  • Gain a deeper understanding of the barriers to being screened 
  • Understanding healthcare behaviors and perceptions 
  • Understand how systemic racism and social injustice impact the Black community’s experiences within the healthcare system 
  • Uncover different motivators to encourage screening
  • Identify preferred and trusted information sources 
  • Gather reactions to potential messaging and messaging aspects to identify what elements of messaging will be most effective

This guidebook shares the findings and recommendations gathered from that research and is further designed to help educate, empower, and mobilize those not getting screened for colorectal cancer. Our vision is that our partners and advocates in the field use this guidebook to strengthen their communication campaigns and create resources that resonate with Black and African American communities.

View the June 21, 2022 webinar introducing the messaging guidebook.

Additional NCCRT market research and messaging guidance:

The NCCRT would like to thank the Public Awareness & Social Media Strategic Priority Team members and Advisory Committee, who generously offered their time and expertise to develop this guidebook’s research and content. We want to extend a special thank you to Quest Diagnostics, the Association of Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists, and Elevance Health Foundation for their support and guidance in conducting the market research and developing this guidebook.

Spread the Word

Black and African American adults experience disproportionally higher incidence and mortality rates from colorectal cancer. The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable’s newly released messaging guidebook provides market-research findings and research-tested messages to encourage unscreened Black and African American adults to seek colorectal cancer screening. https://www.nccrt.org/Black-Messaging-Guidebook  

Only 65% of Black adults aged 50 and older are up to date with potentially life-saving colorectal cancer screening. Download the newly released National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable messaging guidebook to uncover motivators and potential messaging mechanisms to encourage regular colorectal cancer screening among Black and African American adults. https://www.nccrt.org/Black-Messaging-Guidebook

Black & African American adults experience disproportionally higher incidence & mortality from #colorectalcancer. This new @NCCRTnews messaging guidebook can help strengthen your communications to promote #CRC screening. https://www.nccrt.org/Black-Messaging-Guidebook #80inEveryCommunity #getscreened

1 in 3 Black adults aged 50+ are not up to date with potentially life-saving #colorectalcancer screening. Download the new @NCCRTnews messaging guidebook for research-tested messages to encourage #CRC screening: https://www.nccrt.org/Black-Messaging-Guidebook #80inEveryCommunity #getscreened

Brief version:

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable’s newly released 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening  highlights new market research focused on identifying barriers to colorectal cancer screening, understanding preferred and trusted sources for receiving healthcare information, and research-tested messages to help encourage unscreened Black and African American people to seek colorectal cancer screening.

Long version:

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable’s newly released 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening  highlights new market research focused on identifying barriers to colorectal cancer screening, understanding preferred and trusted sources for receiving healthcare information, and research-tested messages to help encourage unscreened Black and African American people to seek colorectal cancer screening.

Black and African American people experience disproportionately high incidence and mortality rates from colorectal cancer, with colorectal cancer death rates almost 40% higher than those of white people. While screening is only one element of the work to address these colorectal cancer disparities, it is essential to promote screening in the best way possible. This new guidebook is intended to provide recommendations to enhance marketing and communication efforts while providing tools to strengthen communication campaigns that resonate with Black and African American communities. 

Webinar – 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening – June 21, 2022

This webinar provided an introduction to the 2022 NCCRT Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening

Speakers:

  • Kaitlin Sylvester, MPA, Director, NCCRT – Programs & Partnerships
  • Folasade (Fola) P. May, MD, PhD, MPhil, Director of Gastroenterology Quality, UCLA Health
  • Michelle Aubertine, MBA, Project Consultant, KS&R
  • Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa, MD, MPH, Gastroenterologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Attendees received an overview of the NCCRT market research findings, learned about identifying barriers to CRC screening, understanding preferred and trusted sources for receiving healthcare information, and learned which research-tested messages could help encourage unscreened Black and African American people to seek CRC screening.

 

NCCRT Learning Center

The NCCRT Learning Center is a digital learning platform which features courses, tools, and other resources on colorectal cancer screening delivery and research. Current educational offerings include:

  • The Colonoscopy Needs Calculator—This tool estimates the number of colonoscopies your practice can realistically anticipate with a high-quality stool-based colorectal cancer screening program based on various screening rate goals and other data inputs. It also provides an estimation of what the total colonoscopy need would cost a system as well as a comparison between the costs of treating cancer and costs of providing colonoscopies.
  • The Communications Education Portal—This course houses our suite of market research findings on the unscreened for colorectal cancer and messaging recommendations to more effectively develop communication campaigns and resources for unscreened populations. Learners can peruse the market research findings from start to finish or jump in to find just what you need to educate, empower, and mobilize those who are not getting screened for colorectal cancer.

We plan to populate the NCCRT Learning Center with additional tools and learning modules over time. Users can create an account to track your progress, learn when new content is released, and access more courses as they become available.

 

Nuestras Voces Network Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Infographic

This bilingual infographic on colorectal cancer was developed by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s Nuestras Voces Network Program to raise awareness about the importance of screening, and to promote the information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Screen for Life National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

This infographic can be shared, posted on social media, printed for community distribution, and customized to include a local organization logo. For more information on how to use this resource in your own community see contact information below.

Evaluation: The content of the infographic was based on evidence-based resources including NCCRT’s 2019 Colorectal Cancer Screening Messaging Guidebook and CDC’s Screen for Life National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign.

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s Nuestras Voces Network Program. See Contact section below for more information.

Publication date: 2020

Post date: March 30, 2020

Contact: For more information about this infographic and the Nuestras Voces Network Program please contact Marcela Gaitán at mgaitan@healthyamericas.org.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Social Media Toolkit – March 2019

This toolkit, developed by the George Washington University (GW) Cancer Center, is designed to help public health professionals establish a Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month social media strategy, implement Facebook and Twitter best practices, disseminate Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month messaging, and manage and evaluate social media efforts.

This toolkit provides a short introduction to use of social media in a health system context, a list of Twitter and Facebook best practices for messages, a list of sample tweets and Facebook posts, other ideas for participating in colorectal cancer awareness month, tips on evaluating social media efforts, and a list of references and other resource links.

Public health professionals, cancer control professionals, coalitions, community-based organizations and stakeholders can all use this toolkit and adapt its messaging for their unique audiences and areas of expertise.

Evaluation: The recommendations and sample messages in the toolkit were designed using evidence-based social media and colorectal cancer messaging best practices.

Evaluation assets: The toolkit includes a section on Measuring Success, which explains how to use analytics to evaluate the impact of social media messages and campaigns.

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the GW Cancer Center.

Publication date: February 2019

Post date: September 2017, revised February 2019

Contact: Send comments, questions, and suggestions to cancercontrol@gwu.edu.

80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook: Recommended Messaging to Reach the Unscreened

This Guidebook is based on market research from the American Cancer Society with guidance from the NCCRT Public Awareness Task Group. The Guidebook is designed to help educate, empower and mobilize three key audiences who are not getting screened for colorectal cancer:

  • The newly insured
  • The insured, procrastinator/rationalizer
  • The financially challenged

The goal of the Guidebook is to share what we know about reaching these hard-to-persuade groups using tested messages.

The 2017 Guidebook includes additional templates, tools and customized resources. (Note: Some versions of Internet Explorer create errors in the document. If you experience problems please use an alternate browser, such as Firefox or Google Chrome.)

The Hispanics/Latinos and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide and Asian Americans and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide introduce market research about the unscreened from these populations and include tested messages in Spanish and several Asian languages.

Use the following tools to help you promote and evaluate 80% by 2018 communications:

The Guidebook reviews what we know from market research about the unscreened and introduces and explains new tested messages. It also provides tools with the messages incorporated to get you started:

Our hope is that partners can take this research and messages provided in the Guidebook and make the message resonate with the target audiences even more by using their own creativity, innovation and spokespersons.

View the following webinars to learn more about the market research that went into this work, and the tools that are available.

Working with Celebrity Ambassadors

In many instances, the unscreened generally know they need to be screened for colorectal cancer, but for whatever reason, the messages they have received about screening have not been enough to move them to action. In these instances, the challenge for the public health community is going beyond providing a rational message about the need for screening and to instead, engage the unscreened at a more emotional level. Finding someone who is well-known — a “celebrity” — to deliver the message is one way to do that.

Asian Americans and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide

The Asian Americans and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide is a supplement to the 80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook, created in 2015 and updated in February 2017. This Companion Guide, based on both qualitative and quantitative research, seeks to provide advice about how to communicate about colorectal cancer screening with seven Asian American subgroups. The Companion Guide includes:

  • Perceptions about colorectal cancer and barriers to screening among unscreened Asian Americans
  • Recommendations for reaching unscreened Asian Americans
  • Tested messages in several Asian languages

Visit the the 80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook to find additional tools and resources to help you promote and evaluate your communications. Find additional guidance on communications for Hispanics/Latinos in the Hispanics/Latinos and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide.

View the February 9th, 2017 webinar introducing the Asian Americans Companion Guide and new communications tools.

Hispanics/Latinos and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide

The Hispanics/Latinos and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide is a supplement to the 80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook, created in 2015 and updated in February 2016. This Companion Guide is based on market research on Hispanics/Latinos that are not up-to-date with recommended colorectal cancer screening. The Companion Guide includes:

  • Perceptions about colorectal cancer and barriers to screening among unscreened Hispanics/Latinos
  • Recommendations for reaching unscreened Hispanics/Latinos
  • Spanish language tested messages

The Companion Guide reviews what we know from market research about unscreened Hispanics/Latinos and introduces and explains new tested messages.

New materials that utilize the messaging are now available for all to use.  Partners are invited to use these materials below as is OR cobrand these materials in partnership with the NCCRT and the American Cancer Society.

To cobrand the materials, please fill out the responsible use agreement. You will then be sent the original files with a button allowing you to upload your logo to cobrand the materials.

Our hope is that partners can take this research and messages provided and make the messages resonate with their target audiences even more by using their own creativity, innovation and spokespersons.

Visit the the 80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook to find additional tools and resources to help you promote and evaluate your communications. Find additional guidance on communications for Asian Americans in the Asian Americans and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide.

View the February 9th, 2016 webinar introducing the Companion Guide.

Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign

Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) campaign to increase colorectal cancer screening among men and women ages 50 or older. The campaign provides free print materials (fact sheets, brochures, postcards, etc.), TV and radio PSAs, social media posts and images, and other materials in English and Spanish to inform men and women about the importance of colorectal cancer screening. Campaign development is based on an extensive review of communication and behavioral science literature as well as focus group studies held throughout the U.S.

Evaluation: Since 1999, CDC has conducted more than 225 focus groups in 35 U.S. cities to assess knowledge, behaviors, and screening practices of the target audiences and test campaign messages and materials. Input also is sought from state health departments on the types of materials that would be most helpful to local efforts. The campaign estimates that as of June 2017, Screen for Life PSAs have generated more than 20 billion audience impressions (the number of times the PSAs have been seen or heard), worth more than $246 million in donated placements. Learn more in the Campaign Overview.

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Visit the website to review the Usage Guidelines. Note that CDC allows state health departments and tribes/tribal organizations to add local information to printed materials and to the closing graphic of TV PSAs—e.g. “Brought to you by the Maryland Department of Public Health.” Screen for Life also provides CDC’s Colorectal Cancer Control Program grantees with specially adapted materials and other resources as needed.

Publication date: Launched in March, 1999; Regularly updated, most recently in 2017.

Post date: September 15, 2017

Contact: Submit comments, questions, and suggestions via web form.