Background Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among Asian American women, with rising incidence, persistently low screening rates in many subgroups, and limited progress in improving survival. Culturally tailored patient education prevention programs are needed to address these disparities. This paper describes the <Emphasis Type="ItalicUnderline">Breast</Emphasis> <Emphasis Type="ItalicUnderline">C</Emphasis>ancer <Emphasis Type="ItalicUnderline">A</Emphasis>wareness and <Emphasis Type="ItalicUnderline">R</Emphasis>isk <Emphasis Type="ItalicUnderline">E</Emphasis>ducation for Asian Americans (Breast CARE) program, a patient educational program to reduce risk behaviors, improve breast cancer screening uptake, and increase awareness while empowering Asian American women to engage in informed health decisions. Methods Guided by community-based participatory research principles, we developed Breast CARE, a community-based, culturally tailored breast cancer prevention program. Breast CARE followed an iterative, multi-phase process including gaps identification and literature review, adaptation of an existing culturally validated breast cancer prevention program, research team deliberation, Community Advisory Board (CAB) co-development, and integration of CAB contributions. Results The Breast CARE curriculum consists of three main domains addressing: (1) Breast Cancer 101, which provides culturally specific breast cancer statistics and foundational knowledge, addresses myths, and contextualizes breast cancer risk; (2) Breast Cancer Screening, which emphasizes early detection, reviews screening modalities and guidelines, and incorporates skill-based activities; and (3) Risk Reduction Strategies, which centers on physical activity as primary prevention strategy through education, demonstration, and individualized goal setting. Teaching strategies were informed by multimodal instructional principles and incorporated didactic education, interactive discussion, visual aids, narrative testimonials, and experiential learning activities to support comprehension and behavior change. Conclusion The Breast CARE curriculum development process offers a practical model for combining community-engaged approaches with evidence-based pedagogy in cancer prevention education.

The Breast Cancer Awareness and Risk Education for Asian Americans (Breast CARE): a community-based patient education program for breast cancer screening and prevention

期刊论文
出版模式：

开放获取
发表日期：

2026年4月30日

查看全文

Jingxi Sheng,
Maichou Lor,
Lisa Cadmus-Bertram

摘要

Background

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among Asian American women, with rising incidence, persistently low screening rates in many subgroups, and limited progress in improving survival. Culturally tailored patient education prevention programs are needed to address these disparities. This paper describes the Breast Cancer Awareness and Risk Education for Asian Americans (Breast CARE) program, a patient educational program to reduce risk behaviors, improve breast cancer screening uptake, and increase awareness while empowering Asian American women to engage in informed health decisions.

Methods

Guided by community-based participatory research principles, we developed Breast CARE, a community-based, culturally tailored breast cancer prevention program. Breast CARE followed an iterative, multi-phase process including gaps identification and literature review, adaptation of an existing culturally validated breast cancer prevention program, research team deliberation, Community Advisory Board (CAB) co-development, and integration of CAB contributions.

Results

The Breast CARE curriculum consists of three main domains addressing: (1) Breast Cancer 101, which provides culturally specific breast cancer statistics and foundational knowledge, addresses myths, and contextualizes breast cancer risk; (2) Breast Cancer Screening, which emphasizes early detection, reviews screening modalities and guidelines, and incorporates skill-based activities; and (3) Risk Reduction Strategies, which centers on physical activity as primary prevention strategy through education, demonstration, and individualized goal setting. Teaching strategies were informed by multimodal instructional principles and incorporated didactic education, interactive discussion, visual aids, narrative testimonials, and experiential learning activities to support comprehension and behavior change.

Conclusion

The Breast CARE curriculum development process offers a practical model for combining community-engaged approaches with evidence-based pedagogy in cancer prevention education.