A research team is searching for male participants who identify themselves as Vietnamese to be part of a study aimed at increasing cervical cancer awareness and prevention among Vietnamese women.
The research is part of a two-year project headed by associate professor Jenny Yi. The team is looking to investigate the effectiveness of health communication aimed at promoting the HPV vaccine’s acceptance among Vietnamese-American women, according to a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) award letter.
“We are trying to develop a program to educate Vietnamese women about cervical cancer, risk factors, prevention and the HPV vaccine,” Yi said. “We are focusing on cervical cancer because Vietnamese women have a high incident rate of this cancer for unknown reasons.”
Yi says that screening rates are lower in the Vietnamese community because of language barriers, access barriers and cultural barriers.
In March of 2010, Yi was awarded a $272, 753 grant, part of a $6.8 million grant from CPRIT cancer prevention programs in Texas, to conduct the research.
Researchers have conducted more than 200 interviews with Vietnamese women about their attitudes and knowledge about cervical cancer.
Yi says that they are nearing the conclusion of the first part of their research, but before they move on to the next phase, they are going to conduct focus groups with Vietnamese men about how they can get involved and encourage women to get screened.
“We want to see how much the men know about the risk factors of cervical cancer,” Yi said. “We are planning to develop print material and several other educational materials.”
Participation is open to the community. Participants will receive a complimentary dinner and a $10 gift card.
For more information email [email protected].
