Cancer health awareness through screening and education - A community approach to healthy equity

Sep 21, 2026

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The CHANGE initiative delivers cancer awareness education focused on modifiable risk factors and navigation to screening for prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers for residents of public housing communities facing negative social determinants of health. Residents from five communities received four education sessions covering cancer risk and disparities and screening eligibility, plus assessment of attendance, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and anthropometrics at baseline and 1 week post-sessions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Methods

DOI: 10. 1002/cam4 .7357 RESEAR CH ARTICLE Cancer health awareness through screening and education: A community approach to healthy equity Marlo Vernon1 | Steven S. Coughlin2 | Martha Tingen1 | Samantha Jones3 | Vahe Heboyan2 1Department of Medicine, Georgia Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention, Control, and Population Health, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA 2Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA 3Department of Family Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA Correspondence MarloVernon, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, 1120 15th St. HS-1640, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. [Email:](Email: mvernon@augusta.edu)[ mvernon@augusta.edu](Email: mvernon@augusta.edu) Funding information Pfizer Global Medical Grant program Abstract Background: The Cancer Health Awareness through screeNinG and Education (CHANGE) initiative delivers cancer awareness education with an emphasis on modifiable risk factors and navigation to screening for prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers to residents of public housing communities who experience significant negative social determinants of health. Methods: Residents of five communities participated. Community advisory board members were recruited and provided feedback to local environmental change projects, recruitment, and community engagement at each site. At each site, four education sessions were provided by trained facilitators on cancer risk factors and etiology, racial disparities, eligibility for cancer screening, and participation in clinical trials. Attendance, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about cancer, and height, weight, and waist circumference were measured at baseline and 1-week post-CHANGE sessions. Results: 90 residents (60% 65 and older years old, 33% male, 60% High School education, 93% AA) participated in the program. 95% completed post-intervention evaluation. Participants were eligible for breast (n = 12), prostate (n = 15), and colorectal screening (n = 25) based on American Cancer Society guidelines, and 22 for tobacco cessation; 21 participants accepted navigation assistance for these services. At post-test, participants significantly increased in knowledge and behaviors around obesity/overweight risk for cancer, nutrition, and physical activity. Colorectal, prostate, and breast cancer knowledge scores also increased, but were not significant. Conclusions: CHANGE participants demonstrated improved health knowledge and intentions to improve their modifiable health behaviors. Participants reported being motivated and confident in seeking preventive care and satisfaction with community engagement efforts. Replication of this project in similar communities may improve knowledge and health equity among underserved populations. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2024 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Cancer Medicine. 2024;13:e7357 . [https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.7357](https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.7357) [wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cam4](wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cam4) 1 of 10 KEYWORDS African Americans, breast cancer, cancer prevention, cancer screening, cigarette smoking, colon cancer, health equity, obesity, prostate cancer, racial disparities, screening 1 | INTRODUCTION Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States following heart disease.1 In the United States, at least 42% of newly diagnosed cancers are potentially avoidable, including 19% caused by smoking and 18% that are caused by a combination of excess body weight, physical inactivity, excess alcohol consumption, and poor nutrition.1 African Americans and other ethnic and racial populations in the Unit

FAQs

What is the CHANGE initiative designed to do?

CHANGE provides cancer awareness education emphasizing modifiable risk factors and helps residents navigate screening for prostate, breast, and colorectal cancers, targeting communities with significant social determinants of health challenges.

What topics were covered in the education sessions?

Trained facilitators delivered four sessions on cancer risk factors and etiology, racial disparities, screening eligibility, and participation in clinical trials.

Did participants show improvements after the program?

Yes. Post-test results showed significant increases in knowledge and behaviors related to obesity/overweight risk, nutrition, and physical activity, and also increases in cancer knowledge scores for colorectal, prostate, and breast cancer (not statistically significant).

How was program impact measured?

Attendance, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about cancer, and anthropometric measures (height, weight, waist circumference) were collected at baseline and one week after the CHANGE sessions.

Sep 21, 2026

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