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

Abstract #114400

Deborah E. Blocker, DSc, MPH, RD¹, LaHoma S. Romocki, MPH, PhD², LaVerne Reid, PhD³, Marci Campbell, PhD⁴, Belinda Jones, MPH⁵, Waldo Rogers⁵, and Ethel Jackson, MPH⁶. (1) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1700 Airport Road, CB#7294 c/o NC STRIDES, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7295, (2) Department of Health Education/ JLC Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, North Carolina Central University, P.O. Box 971, Creedmoor, NC 27522, 919-528-4280, lromocki@wpo.nccu.edu, (3) Department of Health Education/Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, North Carolina Central University, P.O. Box 19738, Durham, NC 27707, (4) School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 4102 McGavran-Greenberg Hall 238, CB# 7461, Chapel Hill, NC 25799-7400, (5) Department of Health Education, North Carolina Central University, P.O. Box 19738, Durham, NC 27707, (6) Dept. of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Box 7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

African American churches are promising intervention sites for health promotion activities because of the historical and trusted role they play in the African American community. The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive, culturally appropriate colorectal and prostate cancer prevention intervention for an African American faith-based population.

Formative research assessed attitudes, behaviors, and practices that influence cancer associated risks. Gender-specific focus groups were conducted with 59 men and women at three rural Black churches in central North Carolina. The Black family, Black church, faith in God, God's will and the positive influence of spouses/partners on promoting cancer screening and healthy behaviors emerged as important themes from the focus groups. A baseline survey was also administered to 164 adults (107 women and 57 men) from 3 other rural Black churches.

The intervention tested the effectiveness of a tailored education (newsletters and videos) and a lay health advisor intervention. The behaviors targeted for change were diet (increasing fruit and vegetable and decreasing fat intake), increasing physical activity and colorectal and prostate cancer screening.

Preliminary results from the qualitative and quantitative data suggest that there are still major barriers and challenges to cancer prevention and screening activities. Findings include the continued mistrust of the medical community and negative attitudes toward specific screening tests. Knowledge about diet and physical activity recommendations for cancer prevention was limited, and the majority of participants did not meet recommendations for cancer screening.

Lessons learned and future directions in collaborative research with faith-based communities will be presented.

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

1)Discuss disparities in colorectal and prostate cancer incidence and mortality for African Americans. 2)List modifiable risk factors for colorectal and prostate cancers. 3)Describe tailored education and lay health advisor interventions for cancer risk reduction.
• Recognize the effectiveness of partnering with African American churches for health promotion initiatives in the African American community

Keywords: African American, Faith Community

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