Abstract:

The National Cancer Screening Program was launched in South Korea in 1999; however, screening rates have remained low. Public health worker in public health center are responsible for forcing the public to adopt the cancer screening. It is necessary to train the worker to raise the awareness, change the attitude and belief, and support the public. This study was purposed to develop the training program according to Precede-Proceed Model and to assess the influence of the program on the knowledge and self-efficacy of training participants. In 2001, we had interviews with public health workers, administrators, and education experts to identify their education needs. Since first training session in 2001, we continued to modify the program content and methods yearly based on the result of process evaluation. Up to date, the total 21 training sessions have been implemented. According to the Precede-Proceed Model, at step 1, we determined worker’s perceptions of their own needs and quality of life. Step 2, an epidemiological assessment helped determine which health problems most important in the community. Step 3, the behavioral and environmental assessment, involved the development of objectives of training program to resolve the health problems. Step 4 identified the factors that must be in place to initiate and sustain the change process. These factors were classified as predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factor. Final planning for the implementation occurred in step 5, the administrative and policy assessment. To identify the effect of the training program, we assessed the knowledge and self-efficacy just before, immediately after, and 6 months later of program implementation. All parts of knowledge (about causes and screening of 6 major cancers) and self-efficacy (ability of seeking and sharing information, ability to educate and council the public, ability to support the cancer patient) increased significantly after the implementation (p<0.001). Precede-Proceed Model is an appropriate planning model to develop the training program to increase the knowledge and self-efficacy of public health workers. To raise the satisfaction of participants, we need to consider to develop the diverse educational methods using participatory methods.

Keywords:

public health worker, Precede-Proceed Model.