The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #51283

Armando Valdez, PhD, PRISM (Pacific Research Institute for Social Marketing), 201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 152, Mountain View, CA 94040, 650 917-6600, avaldez@aol.com

The long-term objectives of this study are to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive, digital multimedia, breast and cervical cancer education kiosk for low-income, less educated Latinas. The specific objectives are to:

(1) design culturally, linguistically and age-appropriate breast cancer education messages for low-education, low-literacy Latinas,

(2) produce appropriate content for use in interactive, multimedia kiosks to provide screening and risk reduction information,

(3) evaluate the efficacy of the interactive multimedia kiosks in providing breast cancer screening and risk reduction information to Latinas.

The study conducted formative research to identify Latinas' knowledge, attitudes and screening behavior for breast and cervical cancer through a combination of focus groups, ethnographic interviews, key informant interviews and a questionnaire. These data guided the content development of cervical cancer education modules.

The findings of the breast cancer education intervention are encouraging. Fifty-one percent of the women that participated in the follow-up survey had either received or scheduled a mammogram within four months of exposure to the intervention. Of these, 35% of participants reported obtaining a mammogram in the past four months, while 15% reported having already scheduled a mammogram. The remaining (49%) of follow-up study participants had neither obtained nor scheduled a mammogram. Of the women that reported getting or scheduling a mammogram, 38.5% were women that had previously had a mammogram and were overdue for one; the remaining 61.5% were women that had never had a mammogram.

The formative research for the intervention of the cervical cancer education intervention is currently ongoing and will be available for reporting at the APHA conference.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation, participants will

• underestand the use of innovative technology to provide breast and cervical cancer education to low income Latinas
• understand the communication model for empowering Latinas with knowledge and motivation to adopt healthful cancer screening behaviors
• understand the effectiveness of this intervention model from field test/clinical trial of this intervention.

Keywords: Cancer Screening, Latinas

Related Web page: NOT APPLICABLE

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: PRISM (Pacific Rim Institute for Social Marketing)
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.