ASPO Abstracts
Implementation Studio: Implementation support program to build the capacity of rural community health educators serving immigrant communities to implement evidence-based cancer prevention and control interventions
Category: Cancer Health Disparities
Conference Year: 2023
Abstract Body:
Purpose: Rural community-based organizations (CBOs) serving immigrant communities are critical settings for implementing evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to reduce cancer health disparities. The Implementation Studio is a training and consultation program that facilitates the selection, adaptation, and implementation of cancer prevention and control EBIs. The Implementation Studio's content was informed by published capacity building literature and the Putting Public Health Evidence in Action curriculum created by the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network. We describe the implementation and evaluation of the Implementation Studio on CBOs' capacity to implement EBIs and clients' (immigrant community) knowledge of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Methods: The Implementation Studio curriculum (delivered in English and Spanish) includes five key components: 1) creation of an implementation blueprint, 2) review of EBIs and adaptation to a rural context, 3) stakeholder collaboration and partnership building, 4) training, consultation, and education, and 5) EBI implementation and monitoring. Thirteen community health educators (CHEs) from two CBOs participated in the Studio; both CBOs selected CRC EBIs. The evaluation included two pre-post surveys of (1) CHEs' (n=13) capacity to select, adapt, and implement an EBI and (2) the effect of the CHE-delivered EBIs on clients' (n=44) knowledge of CRC. Results: All CHEs were Hispanic and women. Pre-post evaluation of the Studio showed a significant increase on CHEs' knowledge of EBIs (pre:29% to post:75%), ability to select EBIs (pre:21% to post:92%), adapt EBIs (pre:21% to post:92%), and implement EBIs (pre:29% to post:75%). Pre-post evaluation of clients showed a significant increase in knowledge including availability of more than one test to detect CRC (pre:11.4% to post:52.3%), the recommended age to begin CRC screening (pre:63.4% to post:70.5%), and screening improving survival (pre:90.9% to post:97.7%). Conclusion: Implementation Studio provides implementation support that is customized to address unique needs of low resource rural CBOs and has potential to build the capacity of rural CBOs serving immigrant communities to implementation of cancer prevention and control EBIs.
Keywords: implementation support, evidence-based intervention, rural community-based organizations serving Hispanics