Abstract
In the USA, cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and premature death among the Hispanic/Latino population. It is estimated that one in two Hispanic men and one in three Hispanic women will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime (American Cancer Society 2010). Despite this significant cancer burden, few innovative strategies for communication and outreach to this population currently exist. In 2009, LIVESTRONG launched a national outreach campaign, which utilized social marketing, specifically targeting Hispanics with the goal of increasing awareness and usage of LIVESTRONG’s Spanish-language cancer navigation resources. This campaign, one of the first undertaken by a national cancer-related organization, led to increased awareness and utilization of resources, including a 238% increase in traffic over traditional marketing campaigns which focused on radio alone. The success of this campaign highlights the use of social media as a cost-effective method to raise awareness of cancer resources among Hispanics.
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Funding Acknowledgment
This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 1U50DP001689-01 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents, findings, and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Human Subjects Protection
LIVESTRONG as a 501c3 nonprofit is not required to obtain human subjects approval in order to evaluate their programs. Data gathered during this project was publically available internet statistics or program-specific statistics and no personal or identifiable human subject’s data was collected. This evaluation was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.
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Justice-Gardiner, H., Nutt, S., Rechis, R. et al. Using New Media to Reach Hispanic/Latino Cancer Survivors. J Canc Educ 27, 100–104 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-011-0267-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-011-0267-2