Strategy for Sustaining Cancer Education Services for Underserved Communities

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Higher Education
• Community Engagement

Background:

• Proven community-based health promotion programs require sustainable resources for replication.
• Innovative strategies are necessary to address resource generation challenges in public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe how university students can implement and sustain community-based health promotion programs.
• To highlight the dual benefit of student involvement: program replication and skill development.

Main Methods:

• Engaging civic-minded university students in the execution of established health promotion programs.
• Documenting the process of resource generation and program sustainability through student participation.

Main Results:

• University students successfully conducted community-based health promotion programs.
• Student involvement provided a viable strategy for resource generation and program replication.
• Students acquired valuable skills enhancing their competitiveness for graduate school.

Conclusions:

• Civic-minded university students offer a unique resource for sustaining and replicating community health promotion programs.
• This model effectively bridges community needs with student experiential learning opportunities.