The Cancer Prevention Materials for African Americans project, funded by
the Texas Cancer Council, was developed to identify existing gaps in
printed cancer prevention materials intended for African Americans.
Research has shown that African Americans experience higher overall cancer
incidence and mortality rates and lower overall cancer survival rates than
all other major ethnic populations in the United States (American Cancer
Society, 1995). It is imperative that printed cancer education materials
intended for African Americans be designed in ways to make them culturally
sensitive and informative.
The six major goals of the project were:
- Conduct a statewide and national search through telephone contacts and
mass mailings to locate published cancer prevention materials intended for
African Americans.
- Organize an advisory committee of health professionals and lay persons
from African-American communities to assist in the development of an
assessment tool and guidelines for cancer education materials.
- Develop an assessment tool that includes current methodologies on
cultural sensitivity information.
- Develop guidelines that can be used in the development of cancer education
materials.
- Create a resource directory of all cancer education materials sensitive to
African Americans.
- Generate a final report on the development and evaluation of the project.
