Lung health: lung cancer and World Tuberculosis Day

The situation

The two lung diseases the hospital sees most often call for two different ways of speaking. Lung cancer often presents once symptoms have started, so a message about early detection has to be delivered without pushing the reader away. Tuberculosis has a clear treatment, and what is needed is the confidence to come in for a test.

Who it was for

Two different readers: patients and families in the lung clinic reading while they wait, and the general public who see a public health day poster in the waiting room.

Approach

For lung cancer I built six panels: three on early detection and risk factors, three on symptoms and treatment, with one human panel that carries no image of the disease. For tuberculosis I used a single poster that gathers many figures into one composition, because the message is that treatment exists and the disease is not a disgrace.

Craft and compliance

The lung cancer panels are 1:1 with a consistent teal block of colour, and photography appears only on the appeal panel so as not to frighten. The tuberculosis poster is A4 with a crowded, bright illustration, because it hangs in a waiting room and has to hold attention from several metres away.

Outcome

Seven pieces were published through the hospital's official channel: six as a panel sequence and one as an A4 poster.

Evidence The only evidence is the published material and the channel's publication number. There is no screening or case-finding data, so an effect on early detection cannot be claimed.

Reflection

The appeal panel in the lung cancer sequence uses a photograph of a family holding a patient, and it reads more strongly than any anatomical illustration. On a frightening subject, one human panel in the middle keeps the rest readable.