Using audience research to ensure that health education materials are understandable and appropriate: Developing and pretesting “Are you at risk for oral cancer? What African American men need to know”

African American men have the highest risk of oral cancer compared to any other population group. Their 5-year survival rate is only 35%, in part because their cancers are often diagnosed in late stages. To help community groups and health professionals raise African American men's awareness of their risk for oral cancer and the importance of early detection, the NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research developed a new brochure entitled “Are you at risk for oral cancer? What African American men need to know.” The brochure--along with complementary education tools such as fact sheets, posters, print and audio PSAs--will be available free of charge for use in oral cancer education efforts across the country. In this presentation, the authors will briefly describe the focus group research that informed the development of the “Are you at risk for oral cancer?” brochure. We will then explain the goals, methods, and results of the brochure pretest, which was conducted with a total of 35 African American men in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Columbia, South Carolina. The extent to which pretest results confirm focus group findings will be discussed. The implications of both focus group and pretest results for future oral cancer education efforts for African American men will be also be addressed.