by Maureen Lafrenière

The newsletter committee asked and you responded. We want to thank everyone who took the time to let us know what’s important and to share some of the results.

General impressions  Encouragingly, more than half of those surveyed said they read all or most of each issue and offered some very positive comments about the tone and content of the newsletter. (“It has excellent content and is easy to understand;” “I read the whole issue back to back, and really appreciate the work that you put into it;” “There aren’t many Canadian sources for such information;” “I find the information very interesting and worthwhile.”)

Content  Most readers felt that the content is relevant and worth passing along to others. Feature articles were seen as the most important type of content, followed by News Briefs, updates on BCAM projects, and reports on BCAM events, in that order. Despite our concerns about the length, style and technical aspects of newsletter articles, it seems that those elements fit well with readers’ needs and expectations.

Priority topics  Cancer prevention topped the list of issues perceived as important for this newsletter, with environmental topics and cancer research next. Healthy lifestyle information and patient concerns followed, but all of the topics mentioned in the survey were seen as worthy of space. Opinions were mixed about giving more space to the subject of cancer and lifestyle; some appreciate its inclusion while others feel that this type of information is abundantly available elsewhere in the media. Suggestions of topics for possible future articles include the economic and political implications of cancer, following the trail of research money, more about legislative interventions for cancer prevention as well as the “business end” of cancer.

Presentation  Readers were clearly ready for a new look, which is now being addressed by our layout expert and which we expect will evolve over the next few issues.

Paper vs. electronic  About three-fourths of the respondents receive the newsletter by mail, and of those, more than half indicated they were willing to receive it electronically.   Over the past year, electronic mini-bulletins have been sent between newsletters, delivering timely event reminders, short news items and action alerts. Ideally, these two tools will complement each other.

Future publications  Given the increased use of e-bulletins and electronic reminders, the newsletter will be published twice a year in 2011 (spring and fall). Unrelated to the survey, the newsletter committee is looking more closely at publishing material from other reliable sources while remaining open to sharing its own original articles if requested by other groups. Committee members share the monitoring of reputable websites to glean news and information of interest to BCAM members and Bulletin readers.

Many thanks once again for your participation and comments.  We welcome your feedback anytime.