Promoting cancer screening among Ontario Chinese women.

OBJECTIVES: Cancer screening participation is typically low among newcomers to Canada. Consequently, mortality and morbidity rates are higher in ethno/cultural populations. There are inherent challenges in reaching these population groups to increase awareness and participation in cancer screening. Many reports have cited the need for culturally appropriate materials and multi-pronged strategies for effective outreach in the Chinese community. This paper outlines the consultation/development process and evaluation strategy for promoting cancer screening among Chinese women with limited English language skills. PARTICIPANTS: As Chinese is the third most commonly spoken language in Canada, this community education project focused on health promoters providing services to Chinese women 50 years and older.
SETTING: Ontario communities. INTERVENTION: Partners and stakeholders were consulted and engaged to define the best approach to develop and distribute culturally sensitive public education resources to assist communities in realizing greater awareness of and participation in cancer screening. OUTCOMES: Customized resource kits were developed and distributed to the target population over the course of two phases of this project. An evaluation strategy was designed and implemented to assess the impact of the project.
CONCLUSION: The process to develop culturally sensitive and evidence-based materials for Chinese is detailed in this article. This multi-year project designed and distributed customized resource kits, through consultation with partners and stakeholders. Project outcomes will be further assessed one year after distribution of the kits. This project template may be useful for adaptation and use in other ethnocultural groups within and outside Ontario.