Integrated Cancer Research Foundation – Kenya
Research Project
Improving cancer-related health literacy through online stories in Kenya
Overview:
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is overwhelming; patients and their family members need much information and skills to understand and live with the diagnosis. A promising way to share information and improve cancer-related health literacy is through educational interventions. These educational offerings should be accessible, timely, relevant, engaging, and credible. A website with testimonials from cancer patients and other information can help. However, no such online service currently exists in Kenya, nor is there any evidence on what constitutes cancer health literacy in Kenya, what an attractive online service should look like, and whether it can effectively improve cancer literacy.
In the CaLioS research project, we first want to understand better cancer educational offers and the cancer-related health literacy of cancer patients in Kenya. Second, we will develop a content-, context-, language- and culture-specific framework model for cancer literacy in Kenya and a website for promoting cancer literacy in Kenya (inspired by a good-practice intervention worldwide). Third, we will conduct a feasibility study to evaluate whether this online offer improves the cancer literacy of cancer patients more than traditional cancer education offers.
Finally, with cooperation partners from selected other Sub-Saharan African countries, we will apply for a more significant grant to extend this intervention to other diseases and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and monitor it scientifically.
Lead Researcher: Stefanie Harsch, PhD
Funding period: 01.06.2023 to 31.05.2025
Source of funding: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Grant number: 01KA2305
Collaborators: Diana Kassaman (Aga Khan University) and ICRF-Kenya
Research Team:
- Hudson Alakonya
- Elliot Abbott
- Irini Skaripa
- Victor Ouna
- Wycliffe Agutu