The Development and Effect of Navigator Education Program for Cancer Screening on Women in the Community / 農村醫學 地域保健

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to evaluate the effect of navigator education program for cancer screening, which is designed for improvement in knowledge of cancer, perceived self efficacy and communication skill of the breast and cervical cancer screening for middle-aged and aged women in urban areas. Cancer screening navigator is lay health advisor who are educated for providing information, emotional support about cancer screening at the community. METHODS: The subjects were 33 women at the age of 40-69 and educated for 12 hours through the education program. The control group subjects were 30 women. For statistical analysis, descriptive statistics and paired t-test were used with SPSS WIN 14.0. RESULTS: Contents of education program were case of cancer early detection, benefit of breast cancer screening, benefit of cervical cancer screening, health care system for cancer screening, role of cancer screening navigator, communication skill, transtheoretical model and role play. Knowledge of cancer(t=4.267, p=0.000) and communication skill(t=4.947, p=0.000) of the women increased significantly after implementing the 12 hours education program. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that navigator education for cancer screening has an effect in increasing knowledge of cancer, and communication skill scores.