Abstract 4234: A culturally competent, community driven, collaborative approach to health care education conferences addressing the health disparities of African Americans
Authors: Parker Ricardo , Schiltz Patric , Wright Ernesta , Parker Jhenifa , Tolbert Denise , Matthews Lezlee , Shamblee LaQuetta 
Published: July 2017

The ability to effectively deliver health care education that meets the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of people with diverse cultures is an important consideration, and is referred to as culturally or community competent approaches. Community and culturally competent health care education approaches are especially important in educational conferences designed to engage residents in health care issues such as health screenings, lifestyle, and preventative approaches toward improved health, as well as examining the impact of these and other factors on health disparities related to ethnicity. In this report, we evaluated 15 ActNOW cancer education conferences over a 5-year period, using a community driven, culturally competent conference model designed to educate African Americans participants, with an emphasis on reducing health disparities through understanding cancer, the importance of clinical trials participation, screening, and preventative and healthy lifestyle choices. Qualitative data on an aggregate of 380 participants were obtained through an anonymous evaluation and feedback survey questionnaire distributed to participants at the end of the conference. Participants’ pre- and post-conference perceived cancer knowledge and intent to change lifestyle were evaluated. Conference attendees voluntarily completed the self-administered questionnaire comprised of 8 questions. Each question had 4 possible responses: 1. non-existent; 2. minimal; 3. moderate or 4. considerable. For statistical analysis, responses were separated into two groups; low and high. Responses designated 1 or 2 were considered to reflect minimal understanding of the subject material; and frequency counts for responses 1 or 2 were aggregated and designated as "Low" understanding responses. Responses 3 or 4 reflected a higher understanding of the subject material; and frequency counts for responses 3 or 4 were aggregated and designated as "High" understanding responses. The groups were then analyzed statistically using Fisher's exact test, where a two-sided p≤0.05 is considered significant. The results demonstrated a significant number (27%) of respondents indicating a low understanding of the topics before the event. After the event, a significantly lesser number (2%) of low respondents reported a low understanding of the topics, with a concomitant increase in high respondents reporting a greater understanding (from 73% pre- to 98% post-conference); p&lt;0.0001. Similar significant shifts in practice knowledge profiles were also seen (p&lt;0.0001). Cultural and/or community competent approaches for health care education are a needed consideration

Citation Format: Ricardo Parker, Patric Schiltz, Ernesta Wright, Jhenifa Parker, Denise Tolbert, Lezlee Matthews, LaQuetta Shamblee. A culturally competent, community driven, collaborative approach to health care education conferences addressing the health disparities of African Americans [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4234. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4234