Programme resources

The national bowel screening multimedia campaign launched in July 2022. It encourages people to take part in screening for bowel cancer – ‘Bowel screening is free, quick and simple, and you can do it at home’.

The campaign was developed through co-design, and reflects Māori and Pacific culture, vibrancy, whānau values, and humour.

The second campaign monitor found a continued increase in awareness and knowledge about bowel cancer screening. A total of 308 New Zealanders were surveyed, with oversampling of Māori, Pacific people and disabled people.

Findings included:

• Awareness of the campaign has increased from 67 percent of those surveyed in the November 2022 monitor, to 81 percent in the November 2023 monitor. This is a very strong result for an advertising campaign.
• People continue to take the right messages from the campaign – Bowel screening can be done at home, It’s easy, It’s important, It’s free.
• People have continued to go on to use a bowel cancer screening kit as a result of seeing the campaign or have a strong intention to do so.
• Pacific people, who previously had the lowest campaign awareness, and are now the most likely to have seen the campaign and are taking more action as a result of seeing it.
• Over half of those surveyed who saw the campaign are more likely to use a bowel screening kit as a result, and just under half have already done so.

The bowel screening campaign is part of a multi-pronged approach to reduce inequities in participation in bowel screening.

The campaign consists of two television commercials – There’s a screening here tonight, and Dream team, as well as a large range of collateral, including in different languages. To access the Uview site hosting the collateral, bowel screening kamahi can email bowelscreening@health.govt.nz.

What is bowel cancer, easy read

All about bowel screening, brochure

How to do the bowel screening test, easy read

Bowel screening test kit instructions, flyer

Positive bowel screening test result, brochure

You’ve got this! poster

What is the National Bowel Screening Programme, easy read

Some resources are available in a range of languages.

The brand guidelines and visual identity for the National Bowel Screening Programme are hosted on the programme’s Uview site. This is the National Bowel Screening Programme’s repository for campaign and other collateral. Access to Uview is by registration – please email bowelscreening@health.govt.nz.

In March 2021 a webinar was live-streamed from St Marks National Bowel Hospital in London especially for colonoscopists working on the National Bowel Screening Programme.

The event was organised by Dr Susan Parry, Clinical Director Bowel Cancer, National Bowel Screening Programme, Population Health and Prevention, and supported by the New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology and the New Zealand Society of General Surgeons.

Watch the webinar in full on the St Mark’s Academic Institute website.