Causes and Prevention

While there is currently no exact cause of colorectal cancer we are aware of many of the factors that contribute to the development of the disease. Nutritional content high in fat and red meat, low or deficient fiber, sedentary and inactive lifestyle, high blood pressure, obesity, alcohol use, and smoking all are manageable factors controlled with a healthy lifestyle that are known to contribute to colorectal cancer.

Following a diet of healthy and natural food sources that are high in fiber and calcium and lower in fat along with utilizing lean protein sources and diverse in both vegetable and healthy fats goes a long way in preventative measures. Adding regular exercise and increasing activity also strongly influence health. Regulating alcohol for a few drinks a week or less and smoking cessation are strongly advised.

Screening, Risk, and Practices

As with many aspects of public health awareness is critical of both of choices you can make and those you can’t. Screening of family history for risk factors is an effective way to be aware of unavoidable risk factors. Colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopy after the age of 50 are the biggest tool and best method for screening. As an outpatient procedure, lacking the need for heavy sedation or anesthesia, taking less than an hour they are very patient friendly. For those under or uninsured stool testing for trace blood is more economical in many cases. Removal of polyps or growths and testing as secondary prevention is often possible as a result of screening as opposed to without and the difficulty of treating more advanced cases that were not found. Evidence supports low aspirin as a preventative to colorectal cancer and may be advised.

Social media is a powerful tool for promoting conversation and raising awareness. As a result, conversation directly leads to behavior change and modification. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumbler are commonly used social media sites utilized in reaching and engaging massive audiences and promoting awareness. This leads to the next practice which requires consideration, and that is presence, audience, and commitment. With the amount of free social media options it is important to consider which social presences will reach the target audience and which are irrelevant to the population or less popular. Social media outreach can easily be made to require a huge time commitment which is another reason it is important to understand your ability to devote manpower to the task. Goal setting is another important tool to measure success to consider. Page likes, shares, tagging, retweeting, and times mentioned are viable statistics to track to show the relationship with the audience. Without goal setting it is difficult to gauge progresses and value. Regular, routine, and authentic updates are also critical in engaging social media. If a tool is underutilized, rarely maintained, and infrequently kept up it will work its way into obscurity and find it impossible to generate larger audiences. Creative and authentic material is also important because of the ease of access to information. Social media constantly floods us with information sources and uninspired information is often ignored by an already oversaturated audience.

References

Cancer.org. (2015). Colorectal Cancer. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandrectumcancer/detailedguide/colorectal-cancer-new-research

Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.org. (2015) Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practices. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/HealthBasics/WhatIsHC.html

What are the risk factors for colorectal cancer? (2014, December 31). Retrieved February 17, 2016, fromhttp://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandrectumcancer/overviewguide/colorectal-cancer-overview-what-causes