St Mark's Bowel Cancer Screening Centre collaborates with UCL's online Master of Public Health
- St Mark's BCSC
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Showcasing Creativity in Health Improvement: Our Social Media Competition for Bowel Cancer Screening
Aradhna Kaushal, Andrew Prentice, and Charlotte Peart
Today, we shine a spotlight on the creativity and innovation of students enrolled on the online MPH at UCL who participated in a unique social media competition aimed at promoting bowel cancer screening. As part of the module Health Improvement Theory and Practice and in collaboration with St Marks Bowel Screening, students learn about screening, barriers to participation and how public health messages are designed. All students were invited to take part in a competition and were tasked with developing a post that not only educates but also motivates the public to engage in screening activities. The requirements were simple and allowed for creativity: each post had to include an image and text, and could optionally incorporate videos, hashtags, or other multimedia elements.
We are proud to announce three winning posts. The first post is by Folasade Akhanoba, Andrea Higgins and Yarin Reindorp who created a colourful and fun post inviting people to a “Poo Party”. They said “36.9% of people who didn't take the FIT test never got around to it, and 32.3% kept forgetting. 6.2% of those that did take the test, reported similar challenges. Knowing the test would be quick and easy was an enabler and therefore we wanted to send this message in a fun and relatable way. We decided to use humour to gain attention and create a memorable reminder to take the FIT test.”
We know you are busy, but this is a date for life.
Don't miss out on this special invite.
It is quick and easy and could save your life.
Welcome to our poo party!
The second winning post includes the tagline “Your Poo shouldn’t look like a Pollock” by Maksida Sabackic. Maksida says “In a city renowned for its vibrant culture, this visual is a nod to London's art scene in combination with a crucial healthcare initiative. Inspiration is drawn from the abstract expressionism art movement, shaped by artists like Jackson Pollock, who revolutionized and provoked new ways of discussing art in modern society. Much like how abstract expressionism sparked unconventional dialogue, this visual aims to engage Londoners in unconventional ways of thinking about the realities of bowel cancer.”
The third winning post was by Alys Murphy, Scott Pegus, and Adama Smadja who said “As a group we really enjoyed creating the bowel cancer screening awareness project. We wanted to create something that was easy to understand, accurate and acknowledging everyone’s busy lives! We hope this shows how quick and easy bowel cancer screening is and encourages uptake.”
Bowel cancer screening is rapid, you’re not in too much of a rush! Proven to detect cancer early and save lives, as quick as a flush!
This competition served as a platform for raising awareness about bowel cancer screening and a practical educational tool for our students. By engaging in this creative exercise, it allowed students to apply their public health knowledge in a real-world context, enhancing their communication skills and understanding of health improvement strategies.