Goals ÉPICO: Education to Promote Improved Cancer Outcomes is a program designed to increase delivery of comprehensive cancer services through development of a replicable, sustainable tailored training program for promotores on prevention, treatment, and healthy survivorship for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers among at-risk residents in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) on the Texas-Mexico border. The primary goals are to: 1) equip promotores to educate residents on cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship issues; 2) enable promotores to use tailoring strategies to improve outreach efforts; and 3) increase residents’ prevention, treatment, and healthy survivorship behaviors. ...

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ÉPICO: Education to Promote Improved Cancer Outcomes is a program designed to increase delivery of comprehensive cancer services through development of a replicable, sustainable tailored training program for promotores on prevention, treatment, and healthy survivorship for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers among at-risk residents in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) on the Texas-Mexico border. The primary goals are to: 1) equip promotores to educate residents on cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship issues; 2) enable promotores to use tailoring strategies to improve outreach efforts; and 3) increase residents’ prevention, treatment, and healthy survivorship behaviors.

ÉPICO will focus on colorectal, breast, and cervical cancers. For our target population, 52% of those 50+ have never had a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy, and 87% at risk have not had a blood stool test within the past two years. Half have never had a mammogram, and 27% have not had a clinical breast exam. Additionally, 23% of women 18+ who had a Pap test in the past 3 years were at risk for cervical cancer. Hispanic residents on the border need culturally relevant evidence-based strategies to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship: specifically, tailored strategies taught by a trusted source.

The strategy is to train and utilize promotores to deliver tailored education that improves access to comprehensive cancer services for Hispanic residents. There will be 9 training modules providing CEUs. We anticipate 720 units of training to promotores and approximately 5,000 residents reached. Four promotores will also become certified instructors. ÉPICO staff will conduct focus groups to inform the development of bilingual training modules with input from technical advisory committee; pilot test trainings in LRGV; and revise curriculum based on resident feedback.

Trainings will be provided to promotores, who will implement tailoring-based training in their daily outreach activities. Project staff will package the curricula for dissemination and expand to other areas of Texas.

ÉPICO is innovative because it: 1) integrates cancer expertise and community knowledge to develop culturally appropriate education; 2) trains promotores in tailoring techniques; and 3) makes the trainings publicly available for replication and sustainability. Trained promotores can diffuse ÉPICO strategies to others, and organizations can also utilize the curriculum—broadening ÉPICO’s scale of impact. ÉPICO will provide effective, culturally relevant, sustainable, tailored strategies for addressing cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship. The identification of low-cost cancer prevention and education interventions that can impact entire populations will also add to the knowledge base and inform strategies designed to facilitate positive cancer outcomes.

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