Empowering <i>Promotores de Salud</i> as Partners in Cancer Education and Research in Rural Southwest Kansas

Abstract

Purpose/Objectives To describe community-based participatory processes used to develop promotore training on cancer research, and to assess the feasibility of training promotores from rural communities to disseminate cancer research information. Design Prospective, cohort design. Setting Rural communities in the state of Kansas. Sample 34 Spanish-speaking promotores attended an information session; 27 enrolled and 22 completed training. Methods With input from a community advisory board, the authors developed a leadership and cancer curriculum and trained Spanish-speaking promotores to disseminate information on cancer research. Promotores completed pretraining and post-training surveys in Spanish to assess demographic characteristics and changes in knowledge of cancer, cancer treatment and cancer research studies, and intent to participate in cancer research. Main Research Variables Cancer knowledge, awareness of cancer clinical trials, interest in participating in cancer clinical research studies. Findings Compared to pretraining, after training, promotores were more likely to correctly define cancer, identify biopsies, describe cancer stages, and report ever having heard of cancer research studies. Conclusions Completion rates of the training and willingness to participate in cancer research were high, supporting the feasibility of training promotores to deliver community-based education to promote cancer research participation. Implications for Nursing Nursing professionals and researchers can collaborate with promotores to disseminate cancer education and research among underserved rural Latino communities in Kansas and elsewhere. Members of these communities appear willing and interested in improving their knowledge of cancer and cancer clinical trials.

Patient, Family, and Community Advisory Councils in Health Care and Research: a Systematic Review

“…1). On two occasions, we identified two articles that present data on the same study [44][45][46][47] , for a total of 16 unique studies (Table 1); these included 13 interventional studies (Table 2) [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] and three observational studies (Table 3). [59][60][61] Studies addressed the four levels of the health care system and engaged patients (n = 7), community members (n = 8), and family members (n = 1).…”

“…Engagement took the form of groups of patients, family members, or community members only 44,50,52,56,57 ; or groups that also involved staff or clinicians 53,55,58 ; in four studies, these two strategies were compared. [46][47][48][49]51 Two studies engaged groups that speak non-dominant languages: one involved indigenous communities in India 44 and one involved Spanish-speaking immigrants in the USA.…”

“…50-52, 55, 57 In four of these studies, patient groups assisted in the recruitment and retention of research participants among marginalized populations, and produced greater recruitment numbers and retention. 50,52,55,57 Only one study suggested that these individuals provided guidance on other dimensions of research besides participant recruitment and retention, such as study design or dissemination of findings, but the nature of involvement was not elaborated upon. 51 Cross-sectional Surveys of Patient, Family, and Community Engagement Across Systems.…”

Promoting Hispanic Immigrant Health via Community Health Workers and Motivational Interviewing

“…4,11 Research suggests that when providing information on preventative measures, cancer, and disease management, CHWs are effective in helping community members navigate the health-care system and overcome distrust of health-care professionals. 12,13 CHWs, also known as “promotoras de salud” in the Hispanic and Latino community, are “of the community” and therefore, well-positioned to reach other community members who may not otherwise pursue help or information about their health.…”

Four Kinds of Hard: An Understanding of Cancer and Death among Latino Community Leaders

“…Further, this study revealed that Latino individuals prefer interventions which occur outside of the clinical setting. Cupertino et al (2015) trained 22 Latino lay health workers from rural parts of Kansas in cancer and research ethics. These investigators concluded that it was feasible to engage lay health workers to deliver community-based cancer education and serve as an important adjunct to clinicians in underserved, rural communities.…”