How to champion cancer awareness in the workplace

With cancer causing 1 in 6 deaths worldwide, it’s a disease that that touches many employees’ lives. Employers have a duty to support employees in staying healthier for longer by promoting prevention and early detection awareness.

Internal communications plays a vital role in ensuring that messaging around cancer prevention and detection engages the workforce. Strategically placed creative campaigns can help draw attention to, and remind people of, the importance of checking for any changes in their health.

So, what could an effective cancer awareness campaign look like for your business?

Case study: Promoting early cancer detection awareness at DHL Express

DHL actively encourages employees to take time to care for their health as part of their authentic and people-focused commitment to employee wellbeing.

When they discovered that more than 2 million cases of breast cancer are diagnosed worldwide and that half of those diagnosed with cancer are working age, this global organisation decided to focus on prevention.

They swapped their signature red and yellow in favour of pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness and encouraged every individual to commit to regularly checking their breasts and chests.

Our challenge was to maximise the opportunity for employee engagement and drive awareness of the message that ‘early detection can save lives’ across a global workforce.

Driving cancer awareness in the workplace

So, how did our campaign go about driving cancer awareness in the workplace?

1. Cultural considerations

This campaign needed to reach as many employees across the globe as possible, so our approach had to work cross-culturally.

2. Intimate messages in private environments

Playful visuals encouraged employees to get to know their bodies and understand the importance of frequent checks.

3. Survivors shared their stories

Stories from employees removed the stigma and encouraged meaningful conversation around early detection.

4. Employee awareness events

Toolkit assets were activated locally at over 100 events to drive awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and beyond.

5. Educational infographics

Engagement relied on a careful balance of hard-hitting statistics, lifestyle advice and human impact.

The campaign not only helped to promote early detection, but opened up conversations around cancer across the business, and encouraged employees to pay closer attention to their health and wellbeing.