July 8, 2014
Cancer stigma project recognized as an internet innovator
A University of Wollongong (UOW) website that is helping reduce stigma and promote cancer screening among the Serbian and Macedonian communities has been recognised for its innovative and informative use of the Internet.
The Cancer Good News website, developed by the Centre for Health Initiatives (CHI) in partnership with the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (Multicultural Health Service) is one of 29 finalists in six categories in the 2014 Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIAs).
The ANZIAs recognise organisations, businesses and individuals who excel in delivering accessible, innovative, informative and secure resources to a diverse and wide community, on the Internet – both in Australia and New Zealand.
Australian policy authority and industry body for .au domain names auDA and New Zealand’s InternetNZ jointly run the awards. The Cancer Good News Project website, launched in October last year, is a finalist in the diversity category.
The project, launched in October last year, aims to decrease stigma surrounding cancer and to promote screening for breast and bowel cancers through spreading good news facts about improved survival rates, the importance of cancer screening and related community health events.
Significantly, the website also documents good news stories of personal accounts of screening and survival that would otherwise go untold due to stigma and taboos that have prevented open discussion about cancer.
The website adopts plain language in script and audio to address health literacy barriers, while providing cancer information that is appropriate to the needs and concerns of each of the two communities.
Lead researcher, Dr Lyn Phillipson said the project website was a model of how small community-based projects could harness the power of the Internet to reach more people with vital health information.
“We know from talking with members of these communities that cancer is greatly feared and often strongly associated with death, grief and loss,” Dr Phillipson said. “Often people feel that cancer is something they can’t control or prevent. It can also be very difficult to talk about cancer or take preventative steps such as having the cancer screening tests that are available.
“We also know that access to cancer information in languages other than English is very limited. Now for the first time not only do people from the Macedonian and Serbian communities have access to vital information in their own language, they can also read the good news that a cancer diagnosis is not always a death sentence.”
The project was a partnership between UOW, the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (Multicultural Health and Cancer Services), the Cancer Council NSW (Southern Region) and was funded by a grant from the Cancer Institute NSW.
The ANZIAs winners will be announced on 25 August.
More: internetawards.org.au and cancer-goodnews.com.au.
Media contact: Dr Lyn Phillipson, Centre for Health Initiatives, on +61 2 4221 4773 or lphillip@uow.edu.au. Enquiries about the ANZIAs should be directed to Helen Hollins, +61 3 8341 4111 or Helen.hollins@auda.org.au.