title: Culturally-Relevant Online Cancer Education Modules Empower Alaska's Community Health Aides/Practitioners to Disseminate Cancer Information and Reduce Cancer Risk.
abstract: To address a desire for timely, medically accurate cancer education in rural Alaska, ten culturally relevant online learning modules were developed with, and for, Alaska's Community Health Aides/Practitioners (CHA/Ps). The project was guided by the framework of Community-Based Participatory Action Research, honored Indigenous Ways of Knowing, and was informed by Empowerment Theory. A total of 428 end-of-module evaluation surveys were completed by 89 unique Alaska CHA/Ps between January and December 2016. CHA/Ps shared that as a result of completing the modules, they were empowered to share cancer information with their patients, families, friends, and communities, as well as engage in cancer risk reduction behaviors such as eating healthier, getting cancer screenings, exercising more, and quitting tobacco. CHA/Ps also reported the modules were informative and respectful of their diverse cultures. These results from end-of-module evaluation surveys suggest that the collaboratively developed, culturally relevant, online cancer education modules have empowered CHA/Ps to reduce cancer risk and disseminate cancer information. "brought me to tears couple of times, and I think it will help in destroying the silence that surrounds cancer".
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Dr, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA. kcueva@alaska.edu.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8013-9680
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cueva
authors.affiliation: Clinical & Research Services, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Revels
authors.affiliation: Community Health Aide Program, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Melany
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cueva
authors.affiliation: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Anne P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lanier
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dignan
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Viswanath
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Teresa T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Geller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education*; D054521:Cultural Competency; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D020375:Education, Distance; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000193:education*; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adult education; Alaska Native; Cancer education; Cancer prevention; Community health workers; Community-based participatory action research; Culturally relevant; Culturally respectful; Culturally responsive; Empowerment theory; Indigenous ways of knowing; Online learning; Survey