Educational short film versus powerpoint based lecture in school tobacco awareness programs: Study from a tertiary cancer Center, Kerala, India.

Multimedia, being more attention-getting and attention-holding, is a powerful tool for mass awareness creation and is used for intervention among students in many studies. Our aim was to see the effectiveness of an educational short film in tobacco awareness generation and to compare it with the traditional lecture-based awareness. Selected schools were divided into two groups as per convenience. Short film was used as intervention in Group 1 and PowerPoint-based lecture in Group 2. The increase in awareness was assessed by a pre and posttest. On analysis, though both methods increased awareness as given by higher posttest score, it is found that the awareness levels showed a statistically significant difference between educational short film on hazards of tobacco and power point-based lecture using Mann-Whitney test. Our study proves that an educational short film carefully scripted and picturized can be used effectively in imparting awareness in school-based tobacco control programs.

Community engaged breast cancer screening program in Kannur District, Kerala, India: A ray of hope for early diagnosis and treatment.

INTRODUCTION: Community based programs can assist in early detection and improved survival of breast cancer. AIMS: To assess the feasibility and explore challenges of a district-wide door-to-door breast cancer screening program "ASWAS" conducted in Kannur district, Kerala, India from 2011 to 2014. METHODS: Aggregate data from survey records were collected in terms of the population screened, referred, diagnosed, and treated. Case records of breast cancer patients who were identified were reviewed and updated. In-depth interviews were conducted with program stakeholders. The contents of the interview were organized into a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) matrix to describe the screening program. RESULTS: A total of 1,049,410 eligible women above 30 years residing in 81 panchayats were visited door-to-door by 8,200 community volunteers; of them, 93% were screened using a symptom-risk factor checklist. Of those referred with symptoms (n = 5353), 81% attended the cancer camp. In total, 23 breast cancer cases were confirmed. 14 (61%) were in early stages, treated, and are disease free at 3-year follow-up. Those in the advanced stage and old age had poor outcomes. SWOT analysis identified political support, female volunteers, community engagement, dedicated fund for treatment, and teamwork as strengths. Weaknesses included poor healthcare access, maintaining volunteer motivation, and issues around sustainability. CONCLUSION: Community participation with the engagement of the health system and local self-government are required for implementing a comprehensive cancer screening strategy. Breast-cancer screening program using local volunteers for early detection is feasible in low-income settings, thereby improving survival.

Population-based cancer screening through community participation: Outcome of a district wide oral cancer screening program from rural Kannur, Kerala, India.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancer is a major public health challenge, and about one-fifth of all oral cancer cases reported globally are from India. In spite of the potential for early detection by simple visual examination, the majority of patients report in later stages of the disease, especially in low and middle-income countries. We report the results from a district level population-based oral cancer screening program. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among people aged >15 years in 48 panchayats of Kannur district in Kerala, India. This comprehensive multi-stakeholder district-wide screening was carried out in six stages including planning, sensitization, recruiting of community volunteers and training, survey, organization of specialist camps and referring to cases to cancer center. The descriptive statistical analysis was performed using EpiData analysis software (Version 2.2.2.180). RESULTS: Among the 1,061,088 people in 265,272 houses surveyed, 2507 of them attended the screening camps, and 13 oral cancers and 174 oral precancers were detected. Majority of the oral cancer patients were male (69%), with primary education or illiterate (62%) and low socioeconomic status (61%). Five of the patients diagnosed with early-stage cancer are alive and have good oral health-related quality of life. CONCLUSION: Detection of precancerous and early-stage cancers should be a priority of oral cancer screening programs. The possible key for addressing cancer screening needs of the rural population is to equip the primary health centers in cancer screening activities with available human resources while adapting to local context.

Educational Short Film versus PowerPoint Based Lecture in School Tobacco Awareness Programs: Study from a Tertiary Cancer Center, Kerala, India

Multimedia, being more attention?getting and attention?holding, is a powerful tool for mass awareness creation and is used for intervention among students in many studies. Our aim was to see the effectiveness of an educational short film in tobacco awareness generation and to compare it with the traditional lecture?based awareness. Selected schools were divided into two groups as per convenience. Short film was used as intervention in Group 1 and PowerPoint?based lecture in Group 2. The increase in awareness was assessed by a pre and posttest. On analysis, though both methods increased awareness as given by higher posttest score, it is found that the awareness levels showed a statistically significant difference between educational short film on hazards of tobacco and power point?based lecture using Mann–Whitney test. Our study proves that an educational short film carefully scripted and picturized can be used effectively in imparting awareness in school?based tobacco control programs.

Community engaged breast cancer screening program in Kannur District, Kerala, India: A ray of hope for early diagnosis and treatment

INTRODUCTION: Community based programs can assist in early detection and improved survival of breast cancer. AIMS: To assess the feasibility and explore challenges of a district-wide door-to-door breast cancer screening program “ASWAS” conducted in Kannur district, Kerala, India from 2011 to 2014. METHODS: Aggregate data from survey records were collected in terms of the population screened, referred, diagnosed, and treated. Case records of breast cancer patients who were identified were reviewed and updated. In-depth interviews were conducted with program stakeholders. The contents of the interview were organized into a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) matrix to describe the screening program. RESULTS: A total of 1,049,410 eligible women above 30 years residing in 81 panchayats were visited door-to-door by 8,200 community volunteers; of them, 93% were screened using a symptom-risk factor checklist. Of those referred with symptoms (n = 5353), 81% attended the cancer camp. In total, 23 breast cancer cases were confirmed. 14 (61%) were in early stages, treated, and are disease free at 3-year follow-up. Those in the advanced stage and old age had poor outcomes. SWOT analysis identified political support, female volunteers, community engagement, dedicated fund for treatment, and teamwork as strengths. Weaknesses included poor healthcare access, maintaining volunteer motivation, and issues around sustainability. CONCLUSION: Community participation with the engagement of the health system and local self-government are required for implementing a comprehensive cancer screening strategy. Breast-cancer screening program using local volunteers for early detection is feasible in low-income settings, thereby improving survival.