N.S. university students propose revamped colon cancer screening kits

One of Nova Scotia's cancer screening strategies may be getting revamped thanks to students at NSCAD University in Halifax.

Nova Scotia's colorectal cancer screening program sends kits to all Nova Scotians aged 50 to 74 every two years. It is aimed at early detection and prevention. The strategy has inspired copies both nationally and internationally since it was launched 15 years ago.

About 40 per cent of people who receive the tests use them and return them with a fecal sample.

Health officials say those numbers suggest a strong showing, but John deWolf at NSCAD said better design could boost the numbers and make collecting a sample easier for users.

"It's a great opportunity for us to work with [Nova Scotia Health] to show them a multitude of examples or multitude of improvements from language to graphics to whatever," deWolf said in an interview with Information Morning Nova Scotia.

The part-time instructor in the department of design at NSCAD said design plays an important role in society. When he and his students first took a look at the test, they noticed the accompanying instructions were filled with statistics and were written "from a clinical approach."

Rosemary Peddle, one of deWolf's students, said after her class was tasked with using the test, she found it wasn't easy to use.

Collecting a sample involves putting a piece of paper on the toilet and then defecating on it, so a bit of the feces can be collected.

"We really put ourselves through everything … then deciding, yeah, we need to chuck some of this information, simplify it, make it clearer, centred [on] the real human users," Peddle said.

She added that that could mean pairing the test with "clear, concise pamphlets" with directions that can be placed on a sink counter for easy reading.

This week, four groups of students presented Nova Scotia Health with some of their proposed changes to the kit design. Peddle said her group is focused on reassuring users with clear and simple instructions and visuals.

"We hope that this is just an eye-opener for Nova Scotia Health, … so that they view their product through a different lens and start making big improvements," said deWolf.

Information Morning - NS7:40How design students are revamping the province's cancer screening program

Since its launch 15 years ago, Nova Scotia's colorectal cancer screening strategy has been copied both nationally and internationally. About 40 percent of people who receive the fecal tests use them, and mail them back. But John deWolf of NSCAD University wondered whether good design could help boost those numbers.