Using dissemination research to identify optimal community settings for tailored breast cancer information kiosks

J Public Health Manag Pract. 2008 Mar-Apr;14(2):160-9. doi: 10.1097/01.PHH.0000311895.57831.02.

Abstract

Objective: Selecting appropriate community channels or settings for delivering evidence-based health promotion programs can be critical to successful dissemination. This article describes how five criteria--accessibility, opportunity, appropriateness, reach, and specificity--were applied in identifying and comparing seven community settings as host sites for a tailored breast cancer education computer kiosk for African American women.

Methods: Data were gathered from 10,306 kiosk uses in 92 beauty salons, churches, neighborhood health centers, laundromats, social service agencies, health fairs, and public libraries between June 2003 and March 2007.

Findings: Of the seven settings, only laundromats were found to provide both high reach (ie, frequent kiosk use) and high specificity (ie, a large proportion of users with no health insurance, unaware of where to get a mammogram, reporting no recent mammogram and barriers to getting one, and having little knowledge about breast cancer and mammography).

Conclusions: Systematic, data-based evaluations of potential dissemination channels can help identify optimal settings for cancer control interventions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Black or African American
  • Breast Neoplasms / ethnology
  • Breast Neoplasms / prevention & control*
  • Community-Institutional Relations*
  • Consumer Health Information*
  • Female
  • Health Fairs
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Humans
  • Information Dissemination / methods*
  • Mammography
  • Middle Aged
  • Public Facilities
  • User-Computer Interface