Abstract
Cancer is leading cause of death worldwide. It's well established that educating young population in prevention is better and more cost-effective, yet insufficient educational programs aimed at this population continues in Puerto Rico. Focus groups were developed to examine the opinions, perceptions and beliefs about cancer and cancer prevention education, and outreach strategies among young adults. The final goal of this study is to establish bases to develop a cancer educational program tailored to young population in Puerto Rico.
This qualitative study developed four focus groups (n=40), divided by age (18-20/21-24) and sex. The objectives listed were explored using 7 open-ended questions. The sessions were recorded, transcribed and analyzed with a content analysis perspective, using the constant comparative method, was performed to identify key themes. A thematic framework was established to classify and organize data according to key themes, concepts, and categories.
Four categories emerged from the transcribed material: concept related to cancer, concepts related to cancer prevention, need for cancer prevention education among young population, and challenges to cancer education among young population. When describing their perception of cancer, the participants mentioned words such as: death, horrible, suffering and struggle. Participants perceived prevention as a way to care for oneself and cancer prevention education as an educational strategy. They acknowledge the importance of cancer prevention education and recognized some of the challenges that educators face when educating young population. Suggested strategies included: social media, media, apps, classrooms, art and public figures. Strategies that don't work included: written materials, flyers, traditional workshops, radio campaigns.
These results confirm the importance of educating young population in cancer prevention. This study shows the relevance of to incorporate adolescent and young adults during the process to develop cancer prevention education programs under the community based participatory research approach.
Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference.
Citation Format: Francisco Ramos, Axel Ramos, Eida Castro, Julio Jimenez. Identifying perceptions of cancer prevention education needs and outreach strategies among young population in Puerto Rico. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A65.
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