Got Pink? The Effectiveness of Health Awareness Campaigns on Breast Cancer (BC) Screening in Bahrain

Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is the second most common type of cancer in the world and is the most common kind of cancer in women both globally and in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (WHO 2020). This study focuses on the effectiveness of health awareness campaigns on breast cancer (BC) screening in Bahrain. Data was collected from a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. The survey was conducted following a purposive sampling procedure with 136 women (75 Bahraini and 61 non-Bahraini). Seven media communicators who worked for the BC campaigns were interviewed following semi-structured interviews. The results showed that although there is a high level of BC awareness between the study sample of the Bahraini and non-Bahraini women, there are still many barriers regarding regular mammograms. These barriers are mostly related to some misconceptions about BC screening such as anxiety, shyness, and cancer fatalism. At the same time, although the study sample was convinced by the BC campaigns of October 2020, a high percentage had not taken the appropriate action represented by BC screening. The messages of these campaigns did not take into account any cultural beliefs of non-Arabic women and focused on encouraging and persuading women of the importance of BC screening rather than dealing with the cultural misconceptions about BC and screening.

Keywords: Breast Cancer Screening; Health Awareness Campaigns; The Reasoned Action Theory; Bahrain.

DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/104-04

Publication date: January 31^st 2023