Can-Dial. An experiment in health education and cancer control

A dial-access public information system providing information about cancer to the populace has been developed by Roswell Park Memorial Institute. The system is comprised of a tape library consisting of 36 pre-recorded tapes in English on a variety of cancer-related topics and Spanish translations of 28 of the tapes. Interested persons can select and listen to topics of their choice over the telephone. Telephones are manned by operators 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Persons who call are asked to volunteer certain descriptive information such as name, address, telephone number, sex, age, occupation, and source of information about Can-Dial. These data are used in evaluating the program. Two types of evaluation are being conducted. The first entails a constant monitoring of the system based upon information collected by operators concerning each call. The second type consists of interviews with a sample of callers and a sample of noncallers for the purpose of comparing the characteristics of both groups and ascertaining the impact of Can-Dial on the behavior of its users. Preliminary assessments indicate that Can-Dial is being used by all socioeconomic status groups, by more urban than rural residents, and by the younger rather than older age groups. In its first 23 months of operation, the system handled more than 68,700 calls, at an average cost of $1.58 per call. A tentative conclusion is that Can-Dial is fulfilling a public need and may have a favorable impact in improving health behavior.