Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening in Rural African American Women

This intervention uses education and self-empowerment to encourage African American women aged 50 and older to participate in colorectal cancer screening. The program was implemented in rural senior centers, and provided participants with free fecal occult blood tests. Women in the intervention viewed a video, "Telling the Story... to Live is God's Will," a dynamic, interactive video to encourage women to get screened for colorectal cancer. The video provided an overview of colorectal cancer and screening, discussed preventive health care from a scriptural perspective, modeled the appropriate use of a noninvasive screening kit, and addressed attitudes, beliefs, and fears about cancer. Participants received educational materials in the mail throughout the year to reinforce the messages of the video. They received an educational calendar to address key points about each month, including screening guidelines and the signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer.

The goal of this program is to decrease fatalism and increase participation in colorectal cancer screening among African American women.

Using a randomized controlled trial, the intervention group was compared to a control group that viewed a general video that provided an overview of colorectal cancer and noninvasive screening. The intervention group had a significantly greater increase in colorectal cancer knowledge scores over the year following the intervention when compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Women in the intervention group were four times more likely to participate in fecal occult blood testing than women in the control group (61% vs. 15%).