Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Educates Through Entertainment

At a recent showing of the Spanish language play "Educando a Papá (Educating Papa)," the audience erupted into applause when the main character Papa Paco finally agreed to undergo a colorectal cancer screening.

While that may seem an overreaction, the audience had watched the drama unfold on the eve of his daughter's college graduation. Papa rejected advice and ignored family concern until, at a crucial moment, he relented.

Getting the audience to buy into health messages is a major thrust of this play and others used by Baylor College of Medicine's Office of Outreach and Health Disparities in the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at BCM. The Office focuses much of its attention on Houston's large, medically underserved population.

"This form of outreach is called entertainment education," said Dr. Maria Jibaja-Weiss, director of the Office. "There is extensive literature on the value of its effectiveness to communicate important health messages to reduce disparities."

In addition to the plays, the Office of Outreach oversees "A Patchwork of Life: One Woman's Story," an online program that guides women who may not know much about health or cancer who have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The group also worked this year on its maiden appearance in Houston's legendary Art Car Parade, helping to promote messages about cancer awareness.

Theater outreach

A part of the playbill for The Marriage Test

The theater outreach programs include three different plays that have proven successful and are well received by the community. The plays include "Educando a Papá" and "Zoot Suit Boogie," geared towards Hispanics, and "The Marriage Test," written mainly for an African-American audience.

Through comedy, drama and original music, the plays focus on the main theme—the importance of early detection and the value of colorectal cancer screening. Hispanics and AfricanAmericans were selected as the target audiences because of their disproportionate cancer burden, low screening rates and health information programs lacking cultural sensitivity, leaving them at greater risk for developing colorectal cancer and for a late diagnosis of the disease.

"There is a great need to educate medically underserved communities, in Houston and across the world, about the use of screening tests and access to treatment," said Jibaja-Weiss. "But it has to be done in a manner that the groups can connect with. With theater outreach, they connect with the stories, the actors and the themes."

The Office of Outreach works with wellknown local playwrights including Thomas Meloncon ("Marriage Test"), Adelina Venegas ("Educando a Papá") and Richard Reyes ("Zoot Suit Boogie").

The plays are free and open to the public. They are sponsored in part by the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society. The Office of Outreach continues to seek new funding to support the plays.

Patchwork of Life

The logo for "a Patchwork of Life"

A woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer faces a wealth of new information and variety of choices about her course of treatment. If she has had little exposure to health information and finds it difficult to understand, making decisions about treatment can be difficult.

To address that need, Jibaja-Weiss and the BCM School of Allied Health Sciences began in the 1990s to develop a computer program to serve as decision support.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, a multidisciplinary group of breast cancer specialists, surgeons and educators crafted "A Patchwork of Life" to give women guidance about treatment options. The program continues under the leadership of Jibaja-Weiss in the Office of Outreach with funding from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and internal funds from the Office of Outreach.

Using a narrative technique spotlighting the decisions of fictional women with breast cancer, the program provides background on breast cancer, addressing common misconceptions about diagnosis and treatment. It walks patients through the steps of making a decision about surgery and other treatments.

The program is used in the cancer resource centers at the Harris County Hospital District's Ben Taub General Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital. It is also used at the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center in the Baylor Clinic and is available on the Internet (www.bcm.edu/patchworkoflife).

"Some of these women get very emotional when watching these stories," said Dr. Glori Chauca, the BCM senior research coordinator who oversees the program's use at Ben Taub. "They weep for these women and what they are going through."

In 2008, the program received a silver award from the Web Health Awards for outstanding webbased, healthrelated content for consumers and professionals.

Art Car Parade

Art car artist Shelley Buschur and outreach staff Donna Rochon, Glori Chauca, Yoav Weiss, Ana Perales, Lidia Porto, Roshanda Chenier; Seated front: Maria Jibaja-Weiss, Director.

In 2009, the Office of Outreach became involved with the Houston Art Car Parade to promote the message of cancer prevention through art.

"This event is a Houston landmark. People come from all across the country to participate and or see it," said Jibaja-Weiss. "We thought it would be really cool if we could utilize that venue to promote the cancer awareness message to the community and to children."

In the first year, the Office of Outreach developed and distributed health activity sheets as part of preparade events. The sheets went to elementary schools in the Houston Independent School District as well as local children's hospitals.

In 2010, Jibaja-Weiss' group partnered with an art class from the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions to design and decorate a golf cart to take part in the parade. The class came up with a theme that promotes healthy eating to decrease the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. The car has various fruits and vegetables attached and is topped off with a cabbage head. It made its first appearance May 7.

New ways to reach diverse populations

DeBakey High School students decorated the art cart to spotlight the importance of healthy eating.

Relationships with local organizations such as the Harris County Hospital District, the Children's Nutrition Research Center, The Health Museum of Houston, Hope Through Grace, and a local chapter of the American Cancer Society make their efforts more effective, Jibaja-Weiss said.

In June 2010, the Office of Outreach was awarded a Community Collaborative Prevention Program award from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. The $2.5 million, threeyear award will help the Office of Outreach, together with the Harris County Hospital District and other community service organizations, further reach medically underserved Harris County residents with colorectal cancer and cervical cancer screening information, assist eligible residents in gaining access to HCHD to receive cancer screening services, and improve followup appointment rates for those already in the system.

"Houston has such a diverse population. It is very challenging to reach difference races and languages," said Jibaja-Weiss. "When we select a group to target, we do our research—what are the greatest disparities, what are their barriers and what messages do we need to put out there?"

Theater outreach

Patchwork of Life

Art Car Parade

New ways to reach diverse populations

Features

News

Spotlight

Briefs

Development/Alumni

Development Briefs

Volume 6, Issue 1, Summer 2010


	Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Educates Through Entertainment by Glenna Picton At a recent showing of the Spanish language play "Educando a Papá (Educating Papa)," the audience erupted into applause when the main character Papa Paco finally agreed to undergo a colorectal cancer screening. While that may seem an overreaction, the audience had watched the drama unfold on the eve of his daughter's college graduation. Papa rejected advice and ignored family concern until, at a crucial moment, he relented. Getting the audience to buy into health messages is a major thrust of this play and others used by Baylor College of Medicine's Office of Outreach and Health Disparities in the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at BCM. The Office focuses much of its attention on Houston's large, medically underserved population. "This form of outreach is called entertainment education," said Dr. Maria Jibaja-Weiss, director of the Office. "There is extensive literature on the value of its effectiveness to communicate important health messages to reduce disparities." In addition to the plays, the Office of Outreach oversees "A Patchwork of Life: One Woman's Story," an online program that guides women who may not know much about health or cancer who have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The group also worked this year on its maiden appearance in Houston's legendary Art Car Parade, helping to promote messages about cancer awareness. Theater outreach A part of the playbill for The Marriage Test The theater outreach programs include three different plays that have proven successful and are well received by the community. The plays include "Educando a Papá" and "Zoot Suit Boogie," geared towards Hispanics, and "The Marriage Test," written mainly for an African-American audience. Through comedy, drama and original music, the plays focus on the main theme—the importance of early detection and the value of colorectal cancer screening. Hispanics and AfricanAmericans were selected as the target audiences because of their disproportionate cancer burden, low screening rates and health information programs lacking cultural sensitivity, leaving them at greater risk for developing colorectal cancer and for a late diagnosis of the disease. "There is a great need to educate medically underserved communities, in Houston and across the world, about the use of screening tests and access to treatment," said Jibaja-Weiss. "But it has to be done in a manner that the groups can connect with. With theater outreach, they connect with the stories, the actors and the themes." The Office of Outreach works with wellknown local playwrights including Thomas Meloncon ("Marriage Test"), Adelina Venegas ("Educando a Papá") and Richard Reyes ("Zoot Suit Boogie"). The plays are free and open to the public. They are sponsored in part by the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society. The Office of Outreach continues to seek new funding to support the plays. Patchwork of Life The logo for "a Patchwork of Life" A woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer faces a wealth of new information and variety of choices about her course of treatment. If she has had little exposure to health information and finds it difficult to understand, making decisions about treatment can be difficult. To address that need, Jibaja-Weiss and the BCM School of Allied Health Sciences began in the 1990s to develop a computer program to serve as decision support. Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, a multidisciplinary group of breast cancer specialists, surgeons and educators crafted "A Patchwork of Life" to give women guidance about treatment options. The program continues under the leadership of Jibaja-Weiss in the Office of Outreach with funding from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and internal funds from the Office of Outreach. Using a narrative technique spotlighting the decisions of fictional women with breast cancer, the program provides background on breast cancer, addressing common misconceptions about diagnosis and treatment. It walks patients through the steps of making a decision about surgery and other treatments. The program is used in the cancer resource centers at the Harris County Hospital District's Ben Taub General Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital. It is also used at the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center in the Baylor Clinic and is available on the Internet (www.bcm.edu/patchworkoflife). "Some of these women get very emotional when watching these stories," said Dr. Glori Chauca, the BCM senior research coordinator who oversees the program's use at Ben Taub. "They weep for these women and what they are going through." In 2008, the program received a silver award from the Web Health Awards for outstanding webbased, healthrelated content for consumers and professionals. Art Car Parade Art car artist Shelley Buschur and outreach staff Donna Rochon, Glori Chauca, Yoav Weiss, Ana Perales, Lidia Porto, Roshanda Chenier; Seated front: Maria Jibaja-Weiss, Director. In 2009, the Office of Outreach became involved with the Houston Art Car Parade to promote the message of cancer prevention through art. "This event is a Houston landmark. People come from all across the country to participate and or see it," said Jibaja-Weiss. "We thought it would be really cool if we could utilize that venue to promote the cancer awareness message to the community and to children." In the first year, the Office of Outreach developed and distributed health activity sheets as part of preparade events. The sheets went to elementary schools in the Houston Independent School District as well as local children's hospitals. In 2010, Jibaja-Weiss' group partnered with an art class from the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions to design and decorate a golf cart to take part in the parade. The class came up with a theme that promotes healthy eating to decrease the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. The car has various fruits and vegetables attached and is topped off with a cabbage head. It made its first appearance May 7. New ways to reach diverse populations Reaching new populations requires new programs. DeBakey High School students decorated the art cart to spotlight the importance of healthy eating. Relationships with local organizations such as the Harris County Hospital District, the Children's Nutrition Research Center, The Health Museum of Houston, Hope Through Grace, and a local chapter of the American Cancer Society make their efforts more effective, Jibaja-Weiss said. In June 2010, the Office of Outreach was awarded a Community Collaborative Prevention Program award from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. The $2.5 million, threeyear award will help the Office of Outreach, together with the Harris County Hospital District and other community service organizations, further reach medically underserved Harris County residents with colorectal cancer and cervical cancer screening information, assist eligible residents in gaining access to HCHD to receive cancer screening services, and improve followup appointment rates for those already in the system. "Houston has such a diverse population. It is very challenging to reach difference races and languages," said Jibaja-Weiss. "When we select a group to target, we do our research—what are the greatest disparities, what are their barriers and what messages do we need to put out there?"		Search all issues: Features The Future of Health Care Starts at Med High Emergency Medicine: The Art of Juggling A Quarter Century of Invention at Baylor College of Medicine "Passport" Gives Childhood Cancer Survivors Entry into Adult Healthcare Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Educates Through Entertainment Getting to the Roots of Cancer News Dr. Paul Klotman: BCM's New Top Man Dan Duncan Leaves Solid Foundation for BCM's Research Future DeBakey Library & Museum Showcases Innovations of Pioneering Heart Surgeon Spotlight 1,000 Chances for New Life BIPAI Doctor Seeks to Serve in Africa Space Medicine Takes Medical Education Across New Frontiers Quest for a Gene Opens New Door in Personalized Medicine Briefs Out of This World Science Experiment Generates International Interest Out of Africa Predicting the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease Pool to Receive Academic Clinical Professionalism Award The Pea Aphid and the Wasp Genome Development/Alumni Dr. Wheeler Donates Royalties Believe in BCM Campaign Engages Campus Development Briefs National Osteoporosis Foundation Honors Lawrences DeBakey Heart Center of BCM Benefits from Partnership Event Pink Ribbon House Project Celebrates Success Awards and Honor Wall Highlight Alumni Reunion 2010 The Road Ahead Promises Continued Success

	Volume 6, Issue 1, Summer 2010



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