UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective:The full extent of cancer as a health issue for Aboriginal people is not clearly known. Cancer can be seen as a death sentence for Aboriginal people, a fact that is often reinforced due to generally poorer survival from cancer. Consequently a diagnosis of cancer may be associated with tremendous fear. This can be compounded by lack of knowledge and understanding about this disease and the cultural norm which makes it inappropriate for Aboriginal people to talk about cancer. However, First Nations organizations have recently become more engaged in cancer prevention programs. This is illustrated through a number of initiatives jointly developed by the Alberta Cancer Board and Alberta aboriginal organizations. Currently, Aboriginal health care practitioners and community members are involved in assessing the effectiveness of these initiatives as community capacity building resources.

Methods: Through a series of sharing circles, Aboriginal Health providers and community workers provided their reactions to the program and identified the environment/situational factors required to optimize the programs' capacity building and information uptake impact (past and future).

Results:The Alberta Cancer Board was able to assess the level of program effectiveness and develop an understanding about the program's ability to: (1) initiate community-based discussions about cancer prevention and screening; (2) support community-based programming that emphasizes healthy lifestyle practices in relation to cancer prevention and screening; and (3) provide culturally appropriate information that influences positive cancer prevention and screening behaviors.