Tools for addressing cancer disparities: A culturally appropriate colorectal cancer awareness, prevention and screening educational toolkit for Pacific Islander communities

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths for PIs among Pacific Islander (PI) communities. This disparity is an issue of social equity and equity in the health status of diverse populations is linked to the availability of culturally and linguistically appropriate services. Utilizing community-based participatory research (CBPR), a partnership of academics and PI communities in Southern California collaborated to address this disparity by developing a CRC awareness, prevention and screening campaign. To ensure that the campaign consistently adhered to community ownership and equitable partnership, a PI community lead work group oversaw the process. The process of developing the campaign was documented in a toolkit that serves as a resource for health educators to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate education. The toolkit was developed through gathering existing materials and reports from the campaign as well as key informant interviews with stakeholders involved in the process. In addition, a pilot test to assess the effectiveness of the toolkit was conducted by interviewing academic and community partners utilizing the toolkit. The CRC toolkit consists of: a) an overview of the campaign, consisting of the approach for identifying need, methodology and strategies; b) background and statistics of CRC among PIs; c) process and results from pre-testing the messages and pilot testing the toolkit; d) strategies for reporting back to the PI community; and e) copies of materials for dissemination and replication to organizations and providers. The toolkit is a how-to guide of evidence based strategies in reducing health disparities.