The proposed Career Development Award will facilitate Dr. Richard C. Palmer's growth as an independent cancer prevention and control research scientist. The long-term career goal of the candidate is to translate research findings into effective health policy aimed at reducing health disparities. The candidate's immediate career goal is to establish himself as an interdisciplinary research scientist able to lead observational and intervention studies aimed at understanding and addressing cancer health disparities. To achieve this goal, the candidate proposes a career development plan that includes professional development, manuscript and grant preparation, and a research plan to collect pilot data. The proposed research plan extends the candidate's prior research work in colorectal cancer (CRC) and builds on work that the candidate has already conducted in addressing CRC disparities seen for African Americans. African Americans experience higher incidence and greater mortality from CRC in comparison to non-Hispanic whites and have low participation in CRC screening. Regular screening can reduce both morbidity and mortality from CRC and offers the possibility of early detection and prevention. Interventions to increase screening rates for African Americans are needed if parity is to be achieved. The primary goal of the proposed research will be to develop and test an interactive multimedia program that is aimed at increasing awareness about CRC, knowledge of testing options, decision-making, and increasing participation in CRC among African American primary care patients. To develop the interactive program, appropriate health messages promoting CRC screening will be developed and tested to examine their effect on attitudes toward CRC screening and behavioral intention. Once developed, a randomized trial will be conducted to assess the impact of the interactive multimedia program. This interactive multimedia application represents a novel approach to improving CRC screening behavior among African Americans in primary health care settings. If the interactive multimedia program is effective, it could be an inexpensive way to increase knowledge and compliance with CRC screening guidelines and other screening tests for this population. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: African Americans have lower rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening participation and are more likely to die from the disease as compared to non-Hispanic whites and other racial/ethnic minorities. Consequently, interventions are needed to help address this inequity. This study will develop and test a multimedia intervention strategy aimed at increasing awareness of CRC, knowledge of testing options, and CRC screening participation among African American patients of a primary care clinic. If the multimedia education tool is effective, it could be an inexpensive way to increase compliance with CRC screening guidelines and possibly other cancer screening tests for this population.
