Colorectal Cancer Prevention in Chinese Immigrant Women: An Educational Program

Purposes: (a) to educate Chinese immigrant women about colorectal cancer (CRC) screening services provided by the Canadian health care system and (b) to advance those women’s knowledge on CRC prevention strategies, focusing on food literacy, eating habits, and physical activity. 

Methods: A pretest-posttest design was used to examine the efficacy of an educational program for improving participants’ knowledge on healthy diet and CRC risk prevention over time. The program lasts two hours per week for six weeks. Lessons covered in the program are as follows: Week 1: Introduction to Ontario Healthcare System, Canada’s Food Guide and food safety strategies, Week 2: unhealthy eating behaviours and CRC risk, Week 3: Exercise demonstrations, Week 4: CRC prevention and screening, Week 5: cooking demonstrations, and Week 6: Focus group discussion and course evaluation. Four instruments were used to collect data: Demographic data questionnaire, a food Safety Questionnaire (FSQ), Feeling about Cancer and Cancer screening, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form.The FSQ was adapted from a preexisting validated scale developed by Medeiros and colleagues. Questions cover food safety attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, and self-reported practices to include high-risk food intake. Fifty participants filled out the questionnaires before and after the program. Statistical analysis with Paired sample t tests was performed using Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 to compare pre- and post-test scores.

Results: Paired sample t tests revealed that there were significant differences between knowledge scores on pre- and post-test, which indicated that participants’ knowledge significantly improved following the food safety educational program. Furthermore, participants’ feeling about cancer and cancer screening was much positive after the educational program.

Conclusion:  This study has demonstrated that an educational program on food safety resulted in improved food safety knowledge for Chinese immigrants. Participants also have a better understanding on information related to healthy eating habits and colorectal cancer prevention and screening.