During the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting, Connaxis took up the challenge of "translating" knowledge -  trying to capture the attention of a very diverse audience in an entertaining but rigorous way. The PRESCRIP-TEC (Prevention and Screening Innovation Project towards Elimination of Cervical Cancer) research project, in which Connaxis is in charge of communication, participated in the scientific poster competition at the GACD congress. The task was to creatively showcase the project in a scientific poster and the story of one of PRESCRIP-TEC beneficiaries served as a guideline for the content of our contribution.

About 200 scientists from all over the world, who participated in the conference, chose the PRESCRIP-TEC poster as the most informative.

This earned PRESCRIP-TEC the Community Choice award in the Knowledge Sharing poster competition at the GACD annual scientific meeting.

Translating knowledge from high-impact research

Reading, understanding, and communicating the impact of any research is challenging. Especially when it comes to connecting with diverse audiences in a culturally nuanced way.
The poster, in the format of a comic and through the story of a patient, explains the real impact of the project in low-resource or hard-to-reach communities where it is not possible to implement Western cervical cancer prevention protocols.

Download the poster

In the process of creating the comic, the team considered these four points:

1. Purpose of the poster and the needs of the field

The aim of the competition was to showcase an informative and creative poster for an audience outside the scientific community which explained what the project was about. This was not only an opportunity to participate in the GACD but also to produce a poster that could be used by health workers in the field. The workers who are implementing the PRESCRIP-TEC research told us that it is easier to explain what the project is all about if they have visual materials at their disposal. For this reason, we decided to create a comic. We knew that after submitting it to the GACD competition, it would also serve as communication material for use in the field.

2. The story and character development

Stories like Glorious's encouraged us to take a storytelling approach for the poster. We created four characters and, through them, we told the story of what happens from the moment PRESCRIP-TEC starts its community mobilisation work to the treatment of precancerous lesions in cases where this is necessary.

3. Illustration style design

The design using the illustration style allowed the freedom to define the characters, features without losing expressiveness or being too ethnically specific. We took into account that PRESCRIP-TEC is implemented in four countries on three continents: Bangladesh and India in Asia, Uganda in Africa and Slovakia in Europe. In addition, the characters were depicted in simple clothes and an extended colour palette in warm tones was used for exteriors and in cool tones for interiors. We also took gender issues into account. While the project is focused on cervical cancer prevention, the importance of men as mobilisers in their communities is crucial. For this reason, it was decided to use a male health mediator.

4. Rigour, truthfulness and accuracy

Our colleagues Dr. Naheed, Mgr. Melichová, Dr. Nakisige and Dr. Koot provided medical guidance to ensure the scientific accuracy of the poster. They were also present at the conference, presenting the poster and sharing their knowledge and experience to answer other colleagues' questions and concerns.

Behind the stories that inspire us to translate knowledge

At Connaxis, we would like to thank all those women who have shared their stories with us and have participated or are participating in this research. We would like to thank the members of the PRESCRIP-TEC consortium for their trust and support, and for the great effort they are making to contribute to the elimination of cervical cancer.

Last but not least, to the talented designers Valeria Ruíz and Valeria Antezana. Artists whom we admire very much. From the creative alliance of Un Cuarto Propio, they give us ongoing support.

This poster is also the result of the work, collaboration and knowledge shared between all those involved in PRESCRIP-TEC. Thanks also to Frieda, Dani, Irina, Eleonora, Javi, Oscar and Eka.

About PRESCRIP-TEC

The Prevention and Screening Innovation Project towards Elimination of Cervical Cancer (PRESCRIP-TEC) contributes to the development of an effective and innovative new approach to cervical cancer prevention in resource-poor and hard-to-reach settings around the world. The project investigates new ways of screening through home-based human papillomavirus self-testing and an artificial intelligence-based decision support system for gynaecological examinations. The project involves 18 organisations, with Connaxis being the organisation responsible for communication.

For more information, please visit: prescriptec.org or the main source of this article: Creating a story about PRESCRIP-TEC patients.