Harvesting from within: Implementing a health ambassador model to educate migrant farmworker women about HPV and cervical cancer

Background: The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) is a community-academic partnership that aims to reduce cancer disparities among medically underserved populations within the Tampa Bay area. Since its inception in 2005, TBCCN community partners have worked collaboratively to design educational programs responsive to community needs and priorities. Planned in collaboration with a community partner, Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc., (FSH), we recently implemented a series of charlas (talking circles) on the topic of cervical cancer and HPV prevention utilizing women from a farmworker community as health ambassadors (embajadoras)   Purpose: This presentation describes the development and novel design, implementation, and evaluation data from our embajadoras de salud project. Methods: Six women from the migrant farmworker community were trained as health ambassadors. Approaches in the design of the curriculum included iterative community member input and the selection and training of embajadoras to ensure that the content was appealing, culturally and linguistically appropriate and relevant to the needs of those attending the charlas. Then, a total of 60 women from the community participated in the charlas and received HPV, cervical cancer and Pap screening resources and education. Results: Findings from pre and post-test assessments indicated an improvement in scores in the areas of cervical cancer screening self-efficacy, Pap intentions, and HPV Knowledge among charla attendees. Furthermore, ambassadors expressed a sense of pride and ownership in their roles as educators. Conclusion: Findings support the use of the health ambassador model in this community for delivery of HPV/cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening information and resources.