CID 2016 highlights

With 2016 coming to an end, we thought we'd look back at some of our team's highlights from the year. In this blog, editor Elissia takes you through the CID best bits!

Lovely feedback
We are always incredibly pleased and proud to get positive feedback from professionals and people affected by cancer who have used our information. Here are a few comments we received in 2016:

Recognition at the BMA Awards
We were thrilled by our recognition at the BMA’s (British Medical Association) Annual Patient Information Awards in September:

• Preparing a child for loss was runner up in the Special Award for Ethics. The judges said: ‘This is an excellent publication... this booklet really deserves recognition. It deals with a very difficult subject in a balanced and sensitive manner. I feel confident many parents living with terminal cancer will find this resource very useful.’
• A guide for young people looking after someone with cancer was Highly Commended. We were told: ‘This is a high quality publication… the content is good and it ticks all the boxes in terms of layout, navigation, etc.’
• The Malignant spinal cord compression (MSCC) alert card and leaflet was also Highly Commended.
• The Signs and symptoms A to Z card (developed with the MISS team) and The cancer guide were also commended by the panel.

Dogs, cake and bald heads
It’s safe to say that in 2016 we’ve had our share of fun, as well as hard work.

The lovely Sarah and her sidekick dressed up as Dalmatians for London Takeover.

The UKO team got to sample (or should I say scoff) Neil’s amazing carrot cake! And feel suitably indignant when he didn’t win 'The Great Macmillan Bake Off' – you’re our winner Neil!

And, we got to watch Sofiane Brave the Shave to raise money for Macmillan. Who knew he’d look so good with no hair?

LGBT focus groups
Another highlight of 2016 was our team’s involvement in Macmillan’s LGBT and Cancer Taskforce. We held two workshops in Manchester – one with LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) attendees, and one with Trans and Non-binary attendees. Editors Lauren and Stu went along, and Stu said it was really humbling and heartening to hear the group’s direct experience of their, or their loved ones, cancer journey. Together we explored how we can better tailor our information to meet the specific needs of the community, whether that be clinical, organisational, emotional, legal, or reassurance in the face of resistance.

Producing brand new information
This year we have produced three new resources:

• After someone dies – coping with bereavement
• Financial guidance series. Planning and managing your finances
• Your support and follow-up care

We have also redesigned the Macmillan Organiser and the Move More guide.

Improving accessibility
We’ve been busy this year expanding our range of information in other languages and formats. We want to make sure everyone has access to information about cancer, regardless of any disability or specific need.

We have more translated information available than ever before. We also updated our easy read booklets about cancer. We made changes based on your feedback, like producing them in colour and making them available to order for the first time.

We’ve also started providing our audiobooks on SoundCloud, so you can stream (listen online) or download audio information about cancer. You can listen to single tracks or a whole audiobook, and there are lots to choose from.

Out with the old, in with the new
This year, we’ve been trying a new way of developing information to see if there was a more efficient way of producing information in several formats – for example print, webpages, eBooks and audio. At the moment we produce a booklet first, then rework the content for other formats.

We’ve tried just working on content for a topic, no matter what formats it will be turned into. We thought about what information people need on that topic, and sometimes made big changes to what we cover and how. We then produced ‘channel-neutral’ content. This meant writing and editing the content without adding anything specific to a format.

As usual, people affected by cancer and professionals reviewed the information to make sure it was accurate and readable. The final step was adapting it for all the formats we wanted it in.

It was challenging but worked well, and we’re now using the new process for all our information. We’re excited because it will:

• mean people get consistent information, however they access it
• allow us to publish new information across all our formats at almost the same time
• make our production processes more efficient.

All in all, 2016 has been a great year for the Cancer Information Development team! We hope you've enjoyed reading about some of the things we have been up to.

We all wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To see what else Macmillan's cancer information team has been blogging about, please visit our blog home page! You can subscribe to receive our blogs by email or RSS too.

We're with you every step of the way

The Macmillan team is here to help. Our cancer support specialists can answer your questions, offer support, or simply listen if you need a chat. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00.

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