Suc Khoe là Hanh Phúc (Health is Happiness): promoting mammography and pap test adherence among Vietnamese nail salon workers.

Vietnamese nail salon workers have low cancer screening rates and confront multiple socioeconomic disparities as immigrants to the US. The Suc Khoe là Hanh Phúc (Vietnamese for "Health is Happiness") program was adapted to the cultural and work needs of this population and implemented at nail salons to increase cancer screening adherence. A total of 186 study participants were recruited from 59 nail salons in a neighborhood with mostly Asian population. After being pretested, workers were enrolled in a cancer education session delivered by Vietnamese lay health workers. Non-adherent cases were offered navigation to cancer screening services to a local federally qualified health center. Participants completed a posttest survey five months, on average. At posttest, navigated non-adherent participants were more likely to report a recent Pap test compared to cases not navigated (83.8% vs. 50.0%), an effect not observed for mammography uptake (77.3% vs. 71.4%). Time in the US, marital status, insurance status, having a primary care provider and/or a gynecologist were significantly associated with cancer screening adherence. Low rates of adherence to cancer screening among Vietnamese nail salons workers can be improved by community based programs addressing cultural and work-related barriers confronted by this population.

Development and Feasibility of a Community-Based, Culturally Flexible Colorectal Cancer Prevention Program.

Comprehensive cancer centers are an important community resource for cancer prevention education in their catchment areas. Colorectal cancer remains one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States, making prevention a priority. Colorectal cancer prevention targets include lifestyle modifications that are influenced by cultural norms, such as diet change, physical activity and screening behavior. Cancer centers must tailor prevention efforts to multiethnic catchment areas. This paper describes the development and feasibility of a comprehensive cancer center's approach to community-based colorectal cancer prevention in Houston, Texas, specifically targeting Hispanic and Asian populations. Sites were recruited through a city-wide network of partnerships between the community relations department in the hospital and community organizations. The program consisted of three workshop-style classes per community site. Each class had a similar overall structure, but cultural and site-specific adaptations were made for each group. A total of 33 classes were taught at nine distinct community sites to 1054 participants over 9 months. This program structure may be adapted for the future dissemination of other cancer prevention tools to communities in the area.

Research participation among Asian American women at risk for cervical cancer: exploratory pilot of barriers and enhancers.

The purposes of this exploratory pilot were to describe perceived barriers to participation in cervical cancer prevention research, and identify culturally-appropriate communication strategies to recruit Asian women into cancer prevention research. This thematic analysis of transcripts, from focus groups and in-depth interviews, was conducted in English, Vietnamese, and Mandarin Chinese, at a community clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thirty participants were either Vietnamese (35%) or Chinese (65%). Mean age was 36.8 (SD 9.9 years). Reasons for non-participation were: lack of time, inconvenience, mistrust of institutions and negative experiences, lack of translated materials, feeling intimidated by English, and the lack of translation of key words or terms. Enhancers of participation were: endorsement by a spouse, monetary compensation, and a personalized approach that offers a benefit for Asian women. To increase participation, first one must remove language barriers and, preferably, use specific dialects. Second, one must specify if benefits are indirectly or directly related to the family or cultural group. Asian research participants in our study consistently expressed that a significant motivator was their desire to be of help, in some way, to a family member or to the Asian community in general.