Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110132

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

Latinas bear an unequal burden of cancer mortality. Despite lower breast cancer incidence rates, breast cancer has increased at a faster rate among Latinas than non-Latina white women and although cervical cancer mortality rates have declined among all women in the U.S., Latina mortality rates have increased annually. Latinas have the nation's highest age-adjusted incidence rate of cervical cancer compared to all other groups. Latinas experience less early-stage detection for breast and cervical cancer, have significantly more advanced disease on admission, and experience lower survival rates. The higher mortality rates for Latinas indicate a significant lower screening rates, and hence less opportunity for early cancer detection. Regular screening remains the pivotal obstacle to improved Latina cancer survival and reduction of those health disparities. This presentation identifies strategies for designing effective education interventions that improve Latina breast and cervical cancer screening rates. It identifies the major obstacles to screening and outlines the core elements of two education interventions that delivered culturally and linguistically appropriate cancer education to low-income, low literacy Latinas and effectively improved breast and cervical screening rates. The two interventions use interactive technology to overcome language and cultural barriers in delivering cancer education messages about risk, screening and prevention. The intervention messages were delivered via interactive touchscreen kiosks that used digital video to correct misconceptions about breast and cervical cancer and model recommended screening and risk reduction behaviors. These two interventions were evaluated using a cross-sectional design and random assignment of study participants in diverse clinical settings. A total of 1200 low-income Latinas participated in the breast cancer study and another 900 Latinas participated in the cervical cancer study. The results of these studies demonstrated that these interventions increased knowledge, created attitudinal change, increased self-efficacy and promoted screening behavior.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to

• Describe the process for designing effective interventions for low-income, low literacy Latinas.
• Identify the advantages of using interactive, multimedia technology to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate cancer education to low literacy Latinas.
• Describe the effectiveness of these education interventions to improve knowledge and attitudes toward breast and cervical cancer screening, and promote adoption of screening behaviors.

Keywords: Latinas, Cancer Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation