Soliciting and incorporating CHW/promotora feedback: Lessons learned from a cancer education program in South Texas

This presentation draws on lessons learned from the 2011-2013 Education to Promote Improved Cancer Outcomes (EPICO) project in Texas to generate a list of best practices for incorporating Community Health Worker/Promotora (CHW/P) input during project design, implementation, and evaluation. Beginning with a brief overview of the EPICO project, the presentation will transition into a group activity based on EPICO’s experiences.

In the EPICO project, six full-time CHWs/Ps delivered over 5000 units of training to community members and over 750 units of training to CHWs on Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer education across Texas. CHW/Ps were involved from the initial stages of project, including research, discussion group design, and curriculum development. The CHW/Ps provided informal feedback during all phases of the project, leading to changes in curriculum content, training methodologies, and program delivery. This unstructured feedback was complemented by formal exit interviews with the full-time CHW/Ps. In that debriefing session, CHW/Ps stated that the project’s aims were often difficult to square with the needs of community residents. Moreover, CHW/Ps suggested strengthening advocacy training and activities in communities to address these unmet needs.

Using this feedback from CHW/Ps, session participants will divide into small groups and discuss how mechanisms for feedback in the EPICO project compare to their own experiences with CHW/P input in programs. Together, session participants will identify guidelines for soliciting, incorporating, and evaluating CHW/P input in future community-based projects.

Note: The presenter is a CHW/P instructor, and CHW/Ps are contributing authors.