Canadian Cancer Society Educational Videos Explain Cancer Topics in Plain Language

Background

Making sure that people with low health literacy have cancer information that they can understand and act on has never been more urgent. The number of new cancer cases in Canada will rise dramatically in the next 15 years. This greater burden on our healthcare system will increase the need for resources about cancer that are easy to access and easy to understand.

The Canadian Cancer Society develops and maintains in-depth information on all types of cancer in print and on cancer.ca. We follow the principles of plain language so that a wide audience can understand and use our information. But what about people whose needs are not met by written information?  According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 6 out of 10 adults and nearly 9 out of 10[1] seniors are not health literate. Limited health literacy has negative effects on people’s health, healthcare quality and healthcare costs[2]. 

Video is an educational format that is accessible and meets the needs of various learners. If done well, videos can be shared widely and reach diverse audiences in ways that text alone can’t. When information is presented in an engaging way, people are more likely to watch, remember and learn. We conducted qualitative user testing to make sure that the video met its learning objectives.

Project Overview

To complement our online content and to meet increasing requests for videos, we launched the Cancer Basics series in 2017 to improve health literacy. With generous support from our project sponsor BMO, CCS will create a total of 21 short, animated videos over 7 years. 

Each video is developed to make a specific cancer topic easier to understand by presenting simple, straightforward information. It therefore contains no more than 3 learning objectives and runs about 2 minutes in length. 

To date, the following Cancer Basics videos have been produced and are available in English (www.cancer.ca/cancerbasics) and French  (www.cancer.ca/lebasesducancer).

  • What is cancer?
  • Coping when you’re first diagnosed with cancer
  • Taking oral chemotherapy at home
  • What do cancer stage and cancer grade mean?
  • What is immunotherapy?
  • How your social worker can help

Further, the first three videos have been translated (French, German and Italian) to meet the needs of a Swiss audience by the Swiss Cancer League.

Intended Audiences

The primary audience for the videos are people with low health literacy who need cancer-related information – people with cancer and their caregivers, friends and family.

Secondary audiences include healthcare providers, patient educators at cancer centres, and staff and volunteers of the Canadian Cancer Society.

User Testing

Key insights into the user experience were gained through the conduct of user testing early in the development of the What is cancer? video. Six 1:1 interviews were conducted by a research firm, Maru/Matchbox. This work demonstrated the value of the format and the content included in the video itself. Further information about the user testing findings is available from CCS upon request. 

Next Steps

Managing Fatigue will be the next video in the Cancer Basics series and is scheduled for release in May 2019. We are interested in continuing to expand the reach and impact of this work and are seeking opportunities to engage with diverse audiences and partners. 

Further information about the series is available at cancerinfo@cancer.ca

[1] Health Literacy. (2014, April 29). Retrieved February 02, 2017, from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cd-mc/hl-ls/index-eng.php#tabs-

[2] Wayne Mitic, W and Rootman, I. (2012). In An Inter‐sectoral Approach for Improving Health Literacy for Canadians: A Discussion Paper (II. Why is health literacy important?) Retrieved from http://www.cpha.ca/uploads/portals/h-l/intersectoral_e.pd