Background-Understanding mediators for behavioral change is important for the optimization of intervention strategies. This report examines mediators of change in the context of a randomized controlled intervention trial (Los Angeles, 2004) that successfully increased colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among Filipino Americans.

The implementation of evidence-based strategies to promote colorectal cancer (CRC) screening remains challenging. The aim of this study is to evaluate two strategies to implement an evidence-based intervention to promote CRC screening in Filipino American community organizations. Twenty-two community organizations were randomized to either a basic or enhanced implementation strategy. In both arms, community health advisors recruited participants non-adherent to CRC screening guidelines, conducted educational sessions, distributed print materials and free fecal occult blood test kits, reminded participants to get screened, and mailed letters to participants' providers. In the enhanced arm, leaders of the organizations participated in implementation efforts. While the effectiveness was similar in both arms of the study (screening rate at 6-month follow-up was 53 % in the enhanced arm, 49 % in the basic arm), 223 participants were screened in the enhanced arm versus 122 in the basic arm. The enhanced implementation strategy reached 83 % more participants and achieved a higher public health impact.

Community health advisor-led interventions are associated with improved health promotion behaviors, such as cancer screening, but the process of training community health advisors is rarely described and evaluated. We trained 91 Filipino Americans from 19 organizations to conduct small-group sessions with members of their organizations to promote colorectal cancer screening. Community health advisors completed brief pre- and post-training surveys that included knowledge of colorectal cancer screening guidelines (4 items), perceived self-efficacy of performing specific tasks (15-item scale, Cronbach’s alpha >.90) and satisfaction with the training itself (5 items). Community health advisors had high levels of knowledge and self-efficacy at pre-training, but levels increased significantly immediately after the 6-hour training (percent of knowledge items answered correctly: 63% to 94%; self-efficacy: 8.2 to 8.9 on a 10 point scale, both p<.001). Correlates of self-efficacy at pre- and post-test were high educational attainment, health care background, high level of participation in the organization, being perceived by others as a leader, and frequent participation in research activities in the past. Consistent evaluation measuring similar constructs across studies may help to standardize the quality of the training, and may improve the implementation of community health advisor-led programs.