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Health Promotion via Deaf-Friendly Ministries

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Abstract

Deaf community members face many barriers to accessing health information. This paper discusses the feasibility of creating a nationwide network of Deaf-friendly ministries to help disseminate cancer information in American Sign Language (ASL) to the Deaf community. Deaf-friendly ministries (N = 403), identified through Internet searches and one-on-one referrals, were sent up to three mailed invitations to join the network. Over half of the ministries responded, with 191 (47.4 %) of the ministries joining the network, completing a baseline survey and receiving ASL cancer education videos to share with members of their congregation and community. Fifteen (3.7 %) responded that they were not interested or no longer had a Deaf-friendly ministry; the rest did not respond or their invitations were returned as undeliverable. As the program progressed, an additional 238 Deaf-friendly ministries were identified. To date, 61 (25.6 %) agreed to participate after the single invitation that was mailed. This network of Deaf-friendly ministries offers a promising dissemination partner.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the following grants: NIH 5P30CA023100; NIH U56CA92079/U56CA92081 and 1U54CA132379/1U54CA132384; NIH/NCMHD 5P60MD000220; NIH R25CA101317; NIH R25CA108731; UCSD Academic Senate Grant; The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, San Diego Affiliate Grant Award; Alliance Healthcare Foundation 99-99; and California Endowment. This project was created by an educational partnership consisting of: Moores UCSD Cancer Center, Deaf Community Services of San Diego Inc., Bovee Productions, the National Association of the Deaf, and Gallaudet University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Georgia Robins Sadler, Patricia Branz, Matthew Fager, Sharon Seegers & Suzuho Shimasaki

  2. The Department of Surgery/Division of General Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Georgia Robins Sadler

  3. Los Angeles School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Suzuho Shimasaki

  4. University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Sharon Seegers

  5. Department of Surgery, Moores UCSD Cancer Center, 3855 Health Sciences Drive MC 0850, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0850, USA

    Georgia Robins Sadler

  6. Moores UCSD Cancer Center, 3855 Health Sciences Drive MC 0850, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0850, USA

    Patricia Branz, Matthew Fager, Sharon Seegers & Suzuho Shimasaki

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  1. Georgia Robins Sadler
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  2. Patricia Branz
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  3. Matthew Fager
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  4. Sharon Seegers
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  5. Suzuho Shimasaki
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Correspondence to Georgia Robins Sadler.

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Sadler, G.R., Branz, P., Fager, M. et al. Health Promotion via Deaf-Friendly Ministries. J Canc Educ 27, 606–611 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-012-0410-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-012-0410-8

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