Formative Research to Adapt Cancer 101: A Cancer Education & Training Program for American Indians & Alaska Natives for use with African -Americans in Building Community Partnerships

The literature is fairly consistent that African Americans' knowledge about cancer lags behind that of other racial/ethnic groups. This knowledge deficit has been associated with uninformed decision making and poorer outcomes across the continuum of cancer care for African Americans. Educational materials that have been shown to increase cancer knowledge and awareness in other racial/ethnic groups may be effective in increasing cancer knowledge among African Americans if adapted for racial, ethnic, and cultural relevancy.

Cancer 101: A Training Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives is an educational resource tool designed to provide basic information about cancer. It is currently being used by the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (NCI's CIS) and due to its success with Native populations, was adapted for use with African Americans in rural counties within the Florida Panhandle. NCI's CIS Coastal Region Partnership Program staff and a community advisory council led the adaptation process. The adapted curriculum was reviewed for content, comprehensibility, acceptance, and cultural sensitivity by community partners and members of the target population. Workshop participants will learn about the adaptation process as well as pilot testing results which showed positive increases in African-Americans' cancer knowledge and awareness.