A Bit About the Campaign
This campaign worked to raise awareness among young women in California that alcohol use is a risk factor for breast cancer. The campaign ran on social media, primarily Instagram and Facebook, for approximately six weeks between February and April 2021 as #drinklessforyourbreasts.
It also included a website to educate young women about the link between alcohol use and breast cancer, and to provide resources for learning more about breast cancer and alcohol use.
This work was funded by the CA Breast Cancer Research Program, and was implemented by the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute.
The Purpose of this Webpage
We’re providing free materials that we developed as part of this campaign so that any interested organization or group can launch their own educational campaign or develop their own health messaging. You can disseminate these materials within your own networks, communities, and social media platforms. These materials include a rapid literature review, infographics, posters, videos, and social media posts and accompanying text (please see the Social Media Toolkit below).
Why and How We Did This
This campaign aimed to address the low awareness among young women that alcohol use is a breast cancer risk factor. Khushalani et al 2020 estimated that about 75% of women in the US between the ages of 15-44 are not aware that drinking alcohol increases their risk of developing breast cancer. The long-term impacts of alcohol use are particularly important for young women because alcohol use is common among young women, and because drinking alcohol at any age increases the risk of breast cancer.
These materials were created using input from an Advisory Group that included representatives of breast cancer advocacy organizations and alcohol risk reduction groups, and based on feedback from young women all over California. We conducted 13 focus groups with a total of 55 women, including bilingual English and Spanish speakers, to understand their opinions, ideas, and reactions to our message in order to produce relevant, impactful messaging that would effectively communicate that alcohol use increases the risk of breast cancer. We also assessed what information they would want to have on a website providing information about the link between alcohol use and breast cancer.
By providing the materials we developed for this campaign to interested groups, it is our hope that the message this campaign worked to spread – that alcohol use can cause breast cancer – will persist beyond the life of the campaign and become part of other organizations’ work to empower young women to make informed decisions about their health and drinking.
Read about our team and why we undertook this project.
Watch & Share the Campaign Webinar
View the campaign webinar to learn more about the project and the research behind it.
Spread the Word
View and share our campaign materials to spread the word that alcohol is a risk factor for breast cancer using the Social Media Toolkit.
- Social Media Posts
- Downloadable Graphics and Images
- Videos
- Downloadable Infographics and Factsheets
- Campaign website
Press Release
View and download the press release which can be used as an online article, blog post, or newsletter feature.
Behind the Campaign
View and download the Literature Review which includes background research on alcohol’s risk of breast cancer, drinking among young women, and dissemination frameworks and approaches.
Contact Us
If you have questions about using any of our materials or about the campaign itself, please get in touch. Or fill out the contact form.
Thank you for helping us spread the message that drinking is a risk factor for breast cancer.
