Talking about cancer with confidence: evaluation of cancer awareness training for community-based health workers
Talking about cancer with confidence: evaluation of cancer awareness training for community-based health workers
Aims: To examine the impact of cancer awareness training for community-based health workers on confidence to talk about cancer, and knowledge of cancer risk factors and signs and symptoms.
Methods: Community-based health workers from Sandwell, Birmingham and Solihull were invited to take part in one of 14 one-day training workshops. Trainees completed questionnaires at the beginning of the workshop and were followed up one month later. Confidence in talking about cancer was examined. Knowledge of cancer risk factors and signs and symptoms was assessed. Trainees were asked to rate the usefulness of the workshop, whether they would recommend it to others and whether they had put what they had learnt into practice.
Results: A total of 187 community-based health workers took part in the workshops, and 167 (89%) completed the one-month follow-up. Considerable improvements were observed in confidence to discuss cancer. For example, the proportion of participants reporting feeling ‘very confident’/‘fairly confident’ in discussing signs and symptoms of cancer increased from 32% to 96% (p < .001). Substantial improvements in trainees’ knowledge were also observed, with 79% of participants correctly identifying 10 out of 11 known risk factors for cancer at one month compared with 21% before training (p < .001). Average (unprompted) recall of cancer signs and symptoms also increased from 2.3 (±1.6) to 2.7 (±1.5), (p = .02). Most trainees (83%) rated the workshop as ‘very useful’, and 89% said they would ‘definitely’ recommend the workshop.
Conclusion: The cancer awareness training was reviewed positively by community-based health workers and led to improvements in confidence to talk about cancer, and knowledge of risk factors and warning signs of cancer. It is hoped that raising awareness among this group will help them to communicate and drive behaviour change in the at-risk populations with whom they work.
268-275
Grimmett, C.
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Macherianakis, A.
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Rendell, H.
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George, H.
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Kaplan, G.
7608f6bc-9244-499b-a29b-e6e8c8d38a8a
Kilgour, G.
3159b05e-b7e6-44cc-8ce9-958e6a0c5933
Power, E.
89fd3657-65f4-4af9-b062-d8389b609527
September 2014
Grimmett, C.
7f27e85b-2850-481d-a7dd-2835e1a925cd
Macherianakis, A.
20a1953b-6371-4a7f-9878-660cdcef6292
Rendell, H.
0ddf770f-45fc-4bc5-9dfd-df6e4ba90341
George, H.
c87e169a-f6bd-4876-a4d3-f3c696c57190
Kaplan, G.
7608f6bc-9244-499b-a29b-e6e8c8d38a8a
Kilgour, G.
3159b05e-b7e6-44cc-8ce9-958e6a0c5933
Power, E.
89fd3657-65f4-4af9-b062-d8389b609527
Grimmett, C., Macherianakis, A., Rendell, H., George, H., Kaplan, G., Kilgour, G. and Power, E.
(2014)
Talking about cancer with confidence: evaluation of cancer awareness training for community-based health workers.
Perspectives in Public Health, 134 (5), .
(doi:10.1177/1757913914534840).
Abstract
Aims: To examine the impact of cancer awareness training for community-based health workers on confidence to talk about cancer, and knowledge of cancer risk factors and signs and symptoms.
Methods: Community-based health workers from Sandwell, Birmingham and Solihull were invited to take part in one of 14 one-day training workshops. Trainees completed questionnaires at the beginning of the workshop and were followed up one month later. Confidence in talking about cancer was examined. Knowledge of cancer risk factors and signs and symptoms was assessed. Trainees were asked to rate the usefulness of the workshop, whether they would recommend it to others and whether they had put what they had learnt into practice.
Results: A total of 187 community-based health workers took part in the workshops, and 167 (89%) completed the one-month follow-up. Considerable improvements were observed in confidence to discuss cancer. For example, the proportion of participants reporting feeling ‘very confident’/‘fairly confident’ in discussing signs and symptoms of cancer increased from 32% to 96% (p < .001). Substantial improvements in trainees’ knowledge were also observed, with 79% of participants correctly identifying 10 out of 11 known risk factors for cancer at one month compared with 21% before training (p < .001). Average (unprompted) recall of cancer signs and symptoms also increased from 2.3 (±1.6) to 2.7 (±1.5), (p = .02). Most trainees (83%) rated the workshop as ‘very useful’, and 89% said they would ‘definitely’ recommend the workshop.
Conclusion: The cancer awareness training was reviewed positively by community-based health workers and led to improvements in confidence to talk about cancer, and knowledge of risk factors and warning signs of cancer. It is hoped that raising awareness among this group will help them to communicate and drive behaviour change in the at-risk populations with whom they work.
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Published date: September 2014
Organisations:
Faculty of Health Sciences
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Local EPrints ID: 369011
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/369011
ISSN: 1757-9147
PURE UUID: 8609f2d1-0655-4034-96c0-82847a9f475f
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Date deposited: 18 Sep 2014 13:21
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:43
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Author:
A. Macherianakis
Author:
H. Rendell
Author:
H. George
Author:
G. Kaplan
Author:
G. Kilgour
Author:
E. Power
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