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The Cancer, Educate to Prevent Model—the Potential of School Environment for Primary Prevention of Cancer

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A Correction to this article was published on 29 January 2018

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Abstract

Cancer represents one of the main causes of death worldwide; consequently, preventive interventions are of utmost importance in public health education. The leading model of cancer prevention campaigns is based on general and undifferentiated actions mediated by health professionals, focusing on the technical and scientific information but rather ineffective in changing the symbolic, cognitive and practical relationship with the disease. New intervention models are thus required to address cancer literacy, being early interventions targeted to specific groups an elective counterpoint to contribute to positive and durable changes in cancer prevention. Our aim is to evaluate the feasibility and impact of cancer prevention programmes planned as focused interventions in restricted targets and mediated by non-healthcare professionals to increase cancer literacy and promote preventive behaviours. This pilot study evaluates schools’ potential as a vehicle for cancer prevention education in a reality shaped by traditional health prevention campaigns. We developed a protocol of systematic surveying in order to review and, in the future, optimize and replicate this ecological model of intervention to other groups and contexts. The implementation of this model has been successful in which concerns to the effectiveness of the training programme for teachers. This led to the development of impactful cancer prevention education projects by trainees targeted to their students, allowing us to argue that it contributes to knowledge and practice in this complex as consensual priority area of intervention.

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Change history

  • 29 January 2018

    The affiliation address of Dr. Helena Santos should be Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Portugal and Dr. Luís Moreira’s should be Research Unit in Education and Community Intervention – RECI & Health School of Vila Nova de Gaia – Piaget Institute.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all the teachers that voluntarily participated in the training programme and to the schools and their students that participated in the study. This study was supported by Portuguese High Commissioner for Health—grant ref# 010–98. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Rua Júlio Amaral de Carvalho 45, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal

    A. Barros, N. Ribeiro, L. Silva & F. Santos-Silva

  2. IPATIMUP – Institute of Pathology and Molecular Immunology of University of Porto, Rua Júlio Amaral de Carvalho 45, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal

    A. Barros, N. Ribeiro, L. Silva & F. Santos-Silva

  3. Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto – FCUP, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    A. Barros

  4. Research Unit in Education and Community Intervention – RECI & Health School of Vila Nova de Gaia – Piaget Institute, Alameda Jean Piaget, 4405-678, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

    H. Santos

  5. Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto – FEP & CIC-Digital, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-464, Porto, Portugal

    L. Moreira

  6. Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto – FMUP, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal

    F. Santos-Silva

Authors
  1. A. Barros
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  2. H. Santos
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  3. L. Moreira
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  4. N. Ribeiro
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  5. L. Silva
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  6. F. Santos-Silva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. Santos-Silva.

Additional information

A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1327-7.

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Barros, A., Santos, H., Moreira, L. et al. The Cancer, Educate to Prevent Model—the Potential of School Environment for Primary Prevention of Cancer. J Canc Educ 31, 646–651 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-015-0892-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-015-0892-2

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