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The Asian Grocery Store-Based Cancer Education Program: Creating New Education Modules

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Abstract

Operating since 1994, the UCSD Moores Cancer Center’s Asian Grocery Store-Based Cancer Education Program (the Program) is a proven and sustainable strategy for disseminating cancer and poison control information to Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities. This paper describes the process taken to identify health topics that can be readily addressed within the Program’s infrastructure and reports results of the pilot testing of the educational module that was developed by following that process. The development of each new module is guided by the Health Belief Model and the Tipping Point Model. The process starts with the selection of a health topic demonstrating pressing need and treatment options in the API community. Then, using the Pareto principle, reasonably modifiable risk factors are chosen to be addressed in the module. “Sticky messaging” for the modifiable risk factors is developed to package the health information as memorable and transmissible calls-to-action. Finally, grocery store outreaches were used to pilot test the new module to assess its effectiveness at facilitating health care information to API community members. By adhering to the steps described in this paper, the authors were able to: (1) select liver cancer as a pressing API health issue that could be positively impacted by the Program; (2) identify reasonably modifiable risk factors for the chosen health issue; (3) generate compelling call-to-action messages to decrease risk of exposure; and (4) demonstrate the cultural and linguistic alignment of the liver cancer control module. The development and testing of new health education modules follow a methodical process guided by scientific principles. Understanding and employing the elements of an existing evidence-based and sustainable health education program can increase the likelihood of success in addressing the health needs of the API community.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the following funding support: National Cancer Institute [grant P30 CA023100]; the National Institutes of Health [grant U54 CA132379/U54 CA132384]; NCATS 5 TL1 TR001113 and UL1 TR001114 (PI: Eric J. Topol, M.D.) for John Tat; the Medical Student Training in Aging Research Program [grant National Institute on Aging T35 AG26757 (PI: Dilip V. Jeste, M.D. and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego)] for Molly Booy; and the Minority Training Program in Cancer Control Research [grant NCI R25 CA078583 (PI: Rena Pasick, Dr.P.H.; Co-PI: Marjorie Kagawa Singer, Ph.D.)] for Annie Le. The authors thank Kaitlin McCabe, Monica Sias, and Anh Tran for helpful advice during the preparation of this manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Dr, Gilman, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Linh Truong & Georgia Robins Sadler

  2. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Rd, MB-07, La Jolla, CA, 92037-1000, USA

    John Tat

  3. Kellogg School of Science and Technology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Rd, MB-07, La Jolla, CA, 92037-1000, USA

    John Tat

  4. Northeast Ohio Medical University, 4209 Ohio 44, Rootstown, OH, 44272, USA

    Molly Booy

  5. Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 640 Charles E. Young Dr. S, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA

    Annie Le

  6. UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, 3855 Health Sciences Drive MC 0850, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0850, USA

    Linh Truong, John Tat, Molly Booy, Annie Le, Jeanne Marie Marasigan, Christine Yuan, Athena Zeng, Anand Panchal & Georgia Robins Sadler

  7. San Diego Mesa College, 7250 Mesa College Drive, San Diego, CA, 92111, USA

    Jeanne Marie Marasigan

  8. Department of Surgery, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0850, USA

    Georgia Robins Sadler

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  1. Linh Truong
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  2. John Tat
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  4. Annie Le
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  9. Georgia Robins Sadler
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Correspondence to Georgia Robins Sadler.

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Truong, L., Tat, J., Booy, M. et al. The Asian Grocery Store-Based Cancer Education Program: Creating New Education Modules. J Canc Educ 31, 292–300 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-015-0836-x

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