MEET THE CYN4 TEAM!
For the fourth consecutive year Canisius College is sponsoring a testicular cancer awareness campaign on campus. Members of this year’s Check Yo Nutz testicular cancer team include John Langley, Kevin Bleeker, Reggie Groves, Tyrell Edwards, Josiah Heath, Jordan Heath, Dominique Raney, Matt Gorczyca, Kaitlyn Dickey, Brandi Banks, Kelly Callahan, Anna Hoffman, Tori Greco, Emily Gumkowski, and Ola Halawani. All students pictured are enrolled in Dr. Melissa Wanzer’s health communication (COM 350) course for the spring 2013 semester. Members of CYN4 worked collaboratively to educate the Canisius College community about testicular cancer. As part of the CYN4 campaign, students created and distributed educational materials to males, hung showercards in all male showers on campus, created educational videos, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfQkaxN8cGI and distributed informational materials at campus events.
Laura Umphrey, Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Northern Arizona University, examined the effects of gain versus loss frame types of messages and depth of message processing on perceived testicular cancer susceptibility and attitudes toward performing testicular self-examinations (TSEs). Gain frame messages emphasize the benefits of performing testicular self-exams, whereas loss frame messages emphasize the costs associated with not performing testicular exams. A gain frame message used in her study was by doing a monthly TSE, you will know what your normal healthy testicle feels like and will be able to recognize any changes. A loss-frame message used in her study was by not doing a monthly TSE, you will not know what your normal, healthy testicle feels like and will be unaware of any changes. Study participants exposed to loss frame messages reported feelings of greater perceived testicular cancer susceptibility than study participants exposed to gain frame messages. In addition, she found that males exposed to loss frame messages and who reported greater motivation and ability to process the cancer message had more positive attitudes toward conducting TSEs than those exposed to gain frame messages and reporting lower levels of motivation and ability to process cancer messages. These study findings, published in 2003 in Communication Research Reports, Volume 20, illustrate the potential effectiveness of using loss frame messages to encourage males to conduct TSEs.
