S620 Engaging Youth at an Immigrant Community Center Is a Novel Approach to Increase Colon Cancer Screening Awareness

Introduction: Immigrants to the United States (US) undergo colorectal cancer (CRC) screening at significantly lower rates than those born in the US. Screening rates are as low as 35% for those in the US <15 years. It is critical to engage immigrant communities through avenues where they are already involved. This study collaborated with a community center for immigrant youth to provide CRC screening information and identify screening barriers in adults. Methods: Physicians and medical students collaborated with an urban community center for immigrant youth to increase CRC screening awareness and identify screening barriers. A health fair was planned that engaged youth with music, raffles and lunch. To encourage adult participation, community partners provided information about health care resources, financial services, nutrition, sexual health and evaluated blood pressure. All adult health fair participants were asked to complete an anonymous survey that obtained demographics, reasons for health fair participation and CRC screening barriers. Analyses were performed using ANOVA, Chi-Square and Fisher Exact Test with significance set at P < 0.05. Results: All 54 adult health fair participants received CRC screening information. Fifty-four (96.4%; 27 male, 26 female, 1 did not identify gender; mean age 43.7) completed the survey. Twenty-five (46.3%) identified as Black, twenty (37%) Hispanic, six (11.1%) White, one Asian (1.9%) and two (3.7%) did not report race/ethnicity. Thirty-three (61%) reported English and sixteen (30%) Spanish as their primary language. Twenty-five (46.3%) attended the health fair to learn about community resources. Adults more frequently came to learn about community resources compared to CRC screening (P = 0.0001), general health information (P = 0.0001) or blood pressure checks (P = 0.0001). Health care access was a more frequent barrier than lack of CRC screening knowledge (P = 0.0344) and fear (P = 0.0171). Women more often reported >2 screening barriers (P = 0.0443). There was no difference in reported barriers based upon race/ethnicity (P = 1.000) or primary language (P = 1.000). Conclusion: Engaging youth at a community center to encourage adult health fair participation is a unique approach for CRC screening outreach. A variety of health fair offerings encourage participation and allows an opportunity to provide CRC information. Health care access was the most common reported barrier. Novel approaches to encourage immigrant communities to identify CRC screening barriers can allow for targeted interventions that will optimize care.