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Abstract #147637

Vicky Taylor, MD, MPH¹, Gloria Coronado, PhD¹, Elizabeth Acorda, MA¹, Chong Teh, PhD², Shin-Ping Tu, MD, MPH³, Yutaka Yasui, PhD⁴, Roshan Bastani, PhD⁵, and Gregory Hislop, MDCM². (1) Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave N, PO Box 19024, M3-B232, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, 206-667-7192, eacorda@fhcrc.org, (2) Cancer Control Research, British Columbia Cancer Agency, #2-109, 675 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1L3, Canada, (3) Department of Medicine, University of Washington, 325 Ninth Avenue, Box 359780, Seattle, WA 98104, (4) Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, 13-106A Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G3, Canada, (5) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, University of California, Los Angeles, Room A2-125 CHS, Box 956900, Los Angeles, CA 90095

Chinese immigrants to North America have substantially higher rates of chronic hepatitis B infection than the general population. One promising approach to health communication for immigrants is the design and evaluation of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) curricula. The Health Behavior Framework, results from a community-based survey of Chinese Canadian immigrants with limited English proficiency, and findings from focus groups of ESL instructors as well as Chinese ESL students were used to develop a hepatitis B ESL educational module. This research was conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia (over one-quarter of Vancouver residents are of Chinese descent). Survey data showed that less than three-fifths (57%) of the respondents had been tested for hepatitis B, and also documented some important hepatitis B knowledge deficits. For example, only 41% knew that Chinese Canadians are more likely to be infected with hepatitis B than white Canadians. Further, only about one-quarter (24%) had ever received a physician recommendation for hepatitis B serologic testing. The ESL lesson aims to both promote hepatitis B testing and improve knowledge about hepatitis B. It includes seven different ESL exercises (warm-up, vocabulary cards, information-gap, video, jigsaw, guided discussion, and problem/advice cards); and specifically addresses five Health Behavior Framework constructs (knowledge, health beliefs, cultural beliefs, social norms/support, and communication with provider). Our curriculum development methods could be replicated for other health education topics and in other limited English-speaking immigrant populations (e.g., Spanish-speaking).

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the potential role of ESL curricula in providing health education to immigrants.
• Discuss hepatitis B knowledge and testing levels among Chinese immigrants with limited English language proficiency.
• Describe hepatitis B ESL curriculum exercises for Chinese immigrants.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.