Programme evaluation
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Evaluation Summary
Get the detailed evaluation results from the Be Clear on Cancer Campaigns.
Understand how Be Clear on Cancer campaigns are evaluated and gain an overview of the success of the programme to date.
Public Health England, Department of Health and NHS England collate and analyse a number of data sets relating to each campaign.
The evaluation metrics are carefully considered for each campaign. Where necessary or relevant, additional metrics are added to the evaluation plan.
Anecdotal feedback from a range of experts and colleagues from all levels of campaign activity is also regularly reviewed. All of this information is used to help shape and develop the Be Clear on Cancer programme of activity.
Cancer Research UK was appointed in 2011 to help develop the evaluation framework for the Be Clear on Cancer programme, and to lead the evaluation of all campaigns that took place between 2011 and March 2013.
Reflecting new structures within the NHS, Public Health England became responsible for campaign evaluation of all campaigns implemented from 1 April 2013 onwards.
Following collection of evaluation metric data, evaluation reports are published for each of the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns. Note that Cancer Research UK carried out evaluation of a number of Department of Health (DH) and National Cancer Action Team (NCAT) funded programme of local public awareness campaigns targeting breast, bowel and lung cancers, carried out in 2010/2011. Some of these pilots tested the Be Clear on Cancer branding, with these and other learnings fed-in to the subsequent development of future campaigns:
Promoting early diagnosis of breast, bowel and lung cancers. First report. 2010/11 local projects
The Government’s Central Office of Information (COI) produced the first Be Clear on Cancer evaluation report on the regional bowel cancer campaign on behalf of DH:
Evaluation of the Bowel Cancer Awareness Pilot in the South West and East of England
Following the dissolution of the COI at the end of 2011, Cancer Research UK carried out the preparation of Be Clear on Cancer evaluation reports on behalf DH and Public Health England (PHE) for campaigns that took place between 2011 and August 2013:
Evaluation of the Be Clear on Cancer ovarian cancer awareness campaign. Highlights from local pilots
PHE are currently responsible for preparation of evaluation reports for all Be Clear on Cancer campaigns taking place after August 2013. These are carried out by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) formerly known as the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN).
In order to contribute to the evidence base for early diagnosis, there is strong commitment to release information from this programme into the public domain on a regular basis. To achieve this, Cancer Research UK have prepared evaluation summaries of Be Clear on Cancer activity to provide an overview of results across the campaigns:
Results from the campaign evaluations have been presented at various conferences through poster and oral presentations:
The results of the 'breast cancer in women over 70' national campaign, outlining the impact on urgent GP referrals and cancer diagnoses were presented in a poster at the Public Health England (PHE) Cancer Outcomes Conference in June 2015.
View the poster summarising the impact on urgent GP referrals for 'breast cancer in women over 70'
The results for the two regional pilot campaigns for oesophago-gastric and ovarian cancers, outlining the impact on urgent GP referrals and cancer diagnoses were presented in a poster at the PHE Cancer Outcomes Conference in June 2015.
An early summary of results across a range of campaigns were presented at the Second NAEDI Research Conference in April 2013.
View the poster summarising early results across a range of campaigns
An analysis of results from 53 local projects funded in 2010/11 under the NAEDI initiative, many of which used Be Clear on Cancer campaign materials, was presented at the Second NAEDI Research Conference in April 2013 and at the PHE Cancer Outcomes Conference June 2013.
View the presentation slides summarising results from 53 local projects
The local oesophago-gastric cancers pilot results were summarised for a poster at the Second PHE Cancer Outcomes Conference June 2013 and also at the PHE Cancer Outcomes Conference June 2013.
View the poster summarising the local oesophago-gastric cancers pilot results
A summary of the ‘blood in pee’ regional campaign results was presented in a poster at the PHE Cancer Outcomes Conference June 2014 and at the NCRI Cancer Conference November 2014.
View the poster summarising the 'blood in pee' regional campaign results
The regional and first national lung cancer campaign evaluation results were summarised in an oral presentation at the 2014 PHE Cancer Outcomes Conference.
Results from the first national lung cancer campaign focusing on the impact on diagnostic investigations, were presented at the Royal College of Radiologists Annual Scientific Meeting in September 2014. The conference abstract was published in Clinical Radiology.
A summary of the impact of a number of campaigns on GP attendance was presented at the Royal College of General Practitioners Annual Conference in September 2014.
View the presentation slides on the impact of a number of campaigns on GP attendance
An initial investigation into the impact of the ‘blood in pee’ and bowel campaigns on inequalities was presented in a poster at the Public Health England Annual Conference in September 2014.
In March 2015, the British Journal of Cancer (BJC) published the second NAEDI supplement. The publication showcases a series of papers presenting current evidence on early diagnosis across the patient pathway.
As part of the March 2015 BJC supplement, Moffat et al. (2015) investigated the impact of the Be Clear on Cancer national bowel and lung cancer campaigns. The paper looks at public awareness and GP attendance with symptoms highlighted in the campaigns on samples of the population subgrouped by gender, age and socioeconomic status.
Power and Wardle (2015) looked at existing data from the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) to examine the impact of the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns on public awareness of key symptoms of lung and bowel cancer and perceived barriers to seeing a doctor.
In December 2014, an evaluation of the regional and first national lung cancer campaign by Ironmonger et al. (2014) was also published in the BJC.
Be Clear on Cancer statement
Be Clear on Cancer is a cancer awareness campaign led by Public Health England, working in partnership with the Department of Health and NHS England. This page contains links to documents that we hope you find useful. Please note however that the views or opinions expressed within those links are not necessarily those of Cancer Research UK.