Asian American Liver Cancer Education Program in Maryland
Through a four-year NIH-NCI grant, Dr. Lee, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, is conducting a project to evaluate existing educational materials for liver cancer prevention and to develop non-traditional and culturally integrated educational materials to be used in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese populations in Maryland. Dr. Lee has implemented a community- based cancer intervention program using the newly developed educational materials to increase hepatitis B virus screening and to evaluate effectiveness of the new materials. The project has three phases :
Phase I, 2009 : Develop educational strategies tailored to the needs of target communities to increase public awareness of liver cancer prevention. In this phase, Dr. Lee and the research team reviewed existing education materials and conducted eight focus groups in Maryland with Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese communities on their knowledge, attitude and behaviors regarding HBV screening and liver cancer prevention. Results were used to develop culturally tailored educational materials for each ethnic group. These materials were used in the phase II interventions.
Phase II, 2009~2010 : Dr. Lee implemented theory-driven and culturally integrated community-based cancer intervention programs to increase hepatitis B virus screening through increased cancer awareness, outreach, and accessibility to screening for Asian Americans. A randomized control study has been conducted with a total of 877 Asian American participants recruited from community / faith-based organizations in Maryland from each ethnicity group.
Phase III, 2011~2012 (ongoing) : Evaluate the effectiveness of educational intervention on hepatitis B and liver cancer awareness. Impact of the interventions on the study population’s cancer related knowledge, attitudes, efficacy, behavior intent, and screening behaviors is being investigated.