Development of an Educational Material about Cancer for School-Aged Children in Japan

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Japan. A half of Japanese males and a third of females are estimated to be diagnosed with cancer over the lifetime. Knowing and getting familiar with cancer at the early stage of life could empower individuals to overcome situations when facing cancer of loved ones or themselves. The national elementary education curriculum includes topics on chronic diseases and health effects of tobacco but not on cancer itself. Our research team began developing a material that can be used for cancer education in class rooms of 5th or 6th graders. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the process of developing a prototype.

We got stakeholders involved in the entire process from the beginning of this project. The formative phase included interviews with those who have cancer-related experience involving children, teachers, 5th graders, a physician doing cancer education advocacy, and officials of Minister of Education. We asked them about the fundamental concept and the drafted contents. The Board of Editors consisted of a public school principal, a class-room teacher, a school dietitian, a school nurse, editing professionals specialized in educational materials, a public-relations professional and three researchers. A prototype will be tested at a public school. A pre-and-post research design will be applied to evaluate its effectiveness using questionnaires and interviews with students and teachers. We will present results from the evaluation and discuss lessons learned.