The challenge:

Local data showed that younger women were not taking up their invitations for smear tests and as a result, the Care Trust was falling far below the target of 80% of eligible women attending.

Our approach:

We worked with community teams, primary care staff and local women to develop the “Inside Counts” campaign. The approach draws from the social norms of women by creating a campaign that encouraged women to invest as much time and effort considering their inside health, as they spend on their outward appearance.

A full range of interventions was supported across the methods mix:

• Peer to peer approaches
• Print media
• Key messages communicated across community and service networks
• A six month radio campaign
• Community awareness events, including fashion shows
• Work with local practice staff to influence service delivery
• Reinforcement through websites used by target audiences

The results:

• Number of women attending smears increased to 81% – exceeding the service target
• Increase of 10.5% of people reporting they know where to go if they need advice about cancer
• £20,000 additional funding secured from local cancer network
• 20 media placements
• 58 distribution points across locality networks
• 4,678 women engaged in significant conversations about cancer symptoms and cervical screening