Cancer education for Armenians: an evaluation of a prevention program

Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-91)A cancer education and prevention program was\ud developed through a student fellowship award from the\ud American Cancer Society to reach the Armenians as the\ud target population. The pilot program was implemented at\ud the Glendale Adventist Medical Center in Glendale,\ud California. A total of 64 individuals from the Armenian community\ud participated in the needs assessment phase of the study. A\ud 41-item survey, translated to Armenian, was used as the\ud instrument to collect data, analysis of which led to the\ud cancer prevention program design. Attendance in the\ud program was voluntary and a total of 26 men and women\ud participated. The major purposes of the study were: 1) to assess\ud the "cancer prevention" educational needs of the Armenians\ud who reside in the city of Glendale; 2) to develop and\ud implement a cancer education/prevention program; and, 3) to\ud measure the impact, if any, upon the knowledge, attitudes,\ud and behaviors of the target group. Statistical evaluation was based on knowledge,\ud attitude, and behavior criteria. Data were collected from\ud the pretest and posttest written questionnaires as well as\ud a post-program telephone interview. Individual item\ud analysis of the responses revealed that the result of the\ud educational program was statistically significant at p=.05\ud level of confidence on one of the three items related to\ud the knowledge criteria. Result of the educational program\ud was also found to be statistically significant at p=.005\ud level of confidence on all of the three items related to\ud the attitude component. The program, however, did not\ud evoke any behavioral changes. The majority of the participants indicated that the\ud program was very informative and well coordinated. Many\ud stated that more cancer education and prevention programs\ud such as this should be offered for the Armenian community\ud in general. Process evaluation resulted in recommendations\ud for future program planning and implementation