Training lay health workers to promote post-treatment breast cancer surveillance in African American breast cancer survivors: development and implementation of a curriculum.
BACKGROUND
African American breast cancer survivors are less adherent to guidelines for post-treatment breast cancer surveillance compared to White survivors. Survivors in Spirit (SIS) is an intervention that addresses this problem through lay health workers (LHWs).


METHODS
African American women were trained as LHWs using a structured curriculum. Trainees' intervention knowledge was assessed before and after training.


RESULTS
There was a substantial increase in the mean percentage of correct items from pre- to post-test for the trainees as a group.


CONCLUSIONS
LHWs can be effectively prepared to conduct interventions focusing on the complexities of breast cancer recurrence and surveillance.
Thompson
Hayley S
HS
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. hthompso@aecom.yu.edu
Edwards
Tiffany
T
Erwin
Deborah O
DO
Lee
Susan H
SH
Bovbjerg
Dana
D
Jandorf
Lina
L
Littles
Monique
M
Valdimarsdottir
Heiddis B
HB
Lewis
Theophilus
T
Karsif
Karen
K
Petersen
Bert
B
Romero
Jenny
J
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D017741:Survivors; D055815:Young Adult