“Cancer – Educate to Prevent” – High-School Teachers, the New Promoters of Cancer Prevention Education Campaigns

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and thus represents a priority for national public health programs. Prevention has been assumed as the best strategy to reduce cancer burden, however most cancer prevention programs are implemented by healthcare professionals, which constrain range and educational impacts. We developed an innovative approach for cancer prevention education focused on high-school biology teachers, considered privileged mediators in the socialization processes. A training program, "Cancer, Educate to Prevent" was applied, so that the teachers were able to independently develop and implement prevention campaigns focused on students and school-related communities. The program encompassed different educational modules, ranging from cancer biology to prevention campaigns design. Fifty-four teachers were empowered to develop and implement their own cancer prevention campaigns in a population up to five thousands students. The success of the training program was assessed through quantitative evaluation--questionnaires focused on teachers' cancer knowledge and perceptions, before the intervention (pre-test) and immediately after (post-test). The projects developed and implemented by teachers were also evaluated regarding the intervention design, educational contents and impact on the students' knowledge about cancer. This study presents and discusses the results concerning the training program "Cancer, Educate to Prevent" and clearly shows a significant increase in teacher's cancer literacy (knowledge and perceptions) and teachers' acquired proficiency to develop and deliver cancer prevention campaigns with direct impact on students' knowledge about cancer. This pilot study reinforces the potential of high-school teachers and schools as cancer prevention promoters and opens a new perspective for the development and validation of cancer prevention education strategies, based upon focused interventions in restricted targets (students) through non-health professionals (teachers).