Background and Context:
Celebrity announcements about illness, including cancer, provide an opportunity to quickly connect to the public with timely and accurate health information. When actress Angelina Jolie revealed her status as a BRCA 1 gene mutation carrier in May 2013, calls to Cancer Council Victoria’s Helpline regarding breast cancer risk increased by 1033%. In response to this community concern Cancer Council Victoria (CCV) held a public webinar.
Aim:
To use a webinar as an innovative approach to address an increased demand for accurate information and support regarding breast cancer risk, detection and prevention.
Strategy/Tactics:
Registrants were invited to participate in surveys before and after the webinar. The pre-webinar survey identified the concerns and information needs of respondents in order to guide content. The post webinar survey evaluated the effectiveness of the webinar.
Programme/Policy Process:
A free, one-hour, public webinar was hosted by CCV in June 2013. The webinar employed mixed presentation techniques, power point slides delivered by a Cancer Genetic Counsellor and an interactive question and answer session.
Outcomes/What was learned:
In all, 512 individuals pre-registered with 205 (40%) attending the live webinar. A total of 155 (30%) registrants submitted pre-webinar questions or topic suggestions with 82 (85%) respondents stating that the option to pre-submit was a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ opportunity. Eight-five respondents (90%) stated that the webinar was ‘useful to their situation’.
Ninety six (98%) respondents confirmed that the Cancer Genetic Counsellor’s knowledge was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
The mode of delivery was considered ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ by 87 (91%) of the respondents.
The survey results suggest that the use of webinars can effectively address the need for accurate information and support. Ninety-three (94%) respondents confirmed they would participate in another webinar. CCV will host further webinars and continue researching their impact.