PRSA-NCC Thoth Award Entry 2005; Category 22: Publications

Living Well with Cancer Kit
Submitted by Donna Arbogast & Associates LLC

Washington Hospital Center, the largest hospital in the nation's capital, offers the busiest cancer care program in the region, but is best known for its renowned heart services. To help increase awareness of the hospital's comprehensive Washington Cancer Institute and to lay the foundation for a major fund-raising drive to expand the cancer facility, the hospital developed the Living Well with Cancer campaign, a public education program for cancer survivors. As more people are living longer after a cancer diagnosis than ever before - many of whom are still active in their 40s, 50s and 60s - they are expressing the need for information to help them live as healthy a life as possible post-diagnosis. Through the campaign, in partnership with NBC4 and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the hospital developed a series of PSA-style ads that encourage people to call for free information about "living well with cancer." That information comes in the form of the Living Well with Cancer kit, developed specifically to serve as the core piece supporting the overall campaign.

Through interviews with more than 20 physicians, nurses, administrators and survivors and a literature review on current oncology and survivorship issues, we learned that many survivors are seeking information about such topics as emotional, spiritual and mental health, pain management and nutrition. However, most survivorship organizations focus instead on the financial impact of cancer and follow-up physical care. We decided, therefore, to develop a kit centered on the theme of "Living Well Through the Five Senses," addressing Taste (nutrition), Getting in "Touch" with Yourself (emotional and spiritual support), Sight (using color to enhance mood and better diet), Sound (music-guided relaxation) and Smell (aromatherapy).

The next challenge was to determine exactly what items to offer in the kit to provide this kind of information, how to package it in a unique and compelling way, and how to ensure that printing and mailing costs stayed within a fixed budget. Ultimately, we created one large informational booklet divided into sections on the five senses. The booklet has front and back pockets and special die-cut slits that hold a nutrition wheel; recipe cards; a poetry journal to guide survivors in relieving stress through creative expression; a bookmark with relaxation tips on each side; and a general information brochure about the Cancer Institute. Several cancer survivors assisted in the development of these materials, and we focus-group-tested the logo and graphic design throughout the process with survivors and their families.

Through the expertise of the design team at Bremmer & Goris, the booklet was made easily mailable with a high-quality look that fit in our budget. The custom-cut pockets actually resulted in extra paper that we used to print the bookmark and Cancer Institute brochure, which was deliberately designed as a 4x8 rather than a traditional 4x9 size to allow us to gang-print it with the cover of the main brochure. We also specially designed the recipe cards, poetry journal and mailing envelope to be printable in the hospital's in-house shop, saving significant dollars. The total cost for design of the materials and the printing of 5,000 copies of most pieces was $30,000, which was the amount of support we received from CareFirst. For this figure, we also printed an extra 3,000 each of the recipe cards and poetry journal in our print shop to distribute at health fairs and other events. The 5,000 kits will last the two- to three-year lifespan of the campaign.

Since the launch of the campaign in October 2004, we have surpassed our goal of 1,000 calls, having received 1,125 to date. In addition, the Cancer Institute staff was so pleased with the outcome, they ordered additional copies of all materials to use as patient education tools. And, although it's been just seven months since the start of the campaign, we have received our first revenue report, which indicated that callers for the kits generated $300,000 in income for the Hospital Center in the first three months of the campaign. (We track hospital usage and revenue through our patient access line, which receives all calls for kits and physician referrals.) It's still too early to conduct another consumer awareness survey, but one is planned for the fall of 2005.