The purpose of this session is to first discuss a study in progress on the factors and elements that either assist or impede the planning and implementation of a breast cancer education program in a middle-income country in Southeast Asia. Second, participants will be asked to share similar studies they are aware of or have been involved with, and practical experiences they have had with programs of this nature

Caffarella, Rosemary S.

Muhamad, Mazanah

Suhami, Norhasmilia

English

Kansas State University

Kansas State University Libraries New Prairie Press Adult Education Research Conference 2011 Conference Proceedings (Toronto, ON, Canada) Sustainable Program Development in Cancer Education: A Case Study Rosemary S. Caffarella Cornell University Mazanah Muhamad Universiti Putra Malaysia Norhasmilia Suhami Universiti Putra Malaysia Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/aerc  Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License Recommended Citation Caffarella, Rosemary S.; Muhamad, Mazanah; and Suhami, Norhasmilia (2011). "Sustainable Program Development in Cancer Education: A Case Study," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2011/roundtables/3 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Adult Education Research Conference by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k-state.edu. 	   788	  Sustainable Program Development in Cancer Education: A Case Study   Rosemary S. Caffarella Cornell University  Mazanah Muhamad Universiti Putra Malaysia  Norhasmilia Suhami,  Universiti Putra Malaysia  Keywords: Sustainablity, Program Planning, Cultural Differences  Abstract: The purpose of this session is to first discuss a study in progress on the factors and elements that either assist or impede the planning and implementation of a breast cancer education program in a middle-income country in Southeast Asia. Second, participants will be asked to share similar studies they are aware of or have been involved with, and practical experiences they have had with programs of this nature.   One of the frustrating things about initiating new programs focused on education and social change in low- and middle-income countries is the high failure rate of those programs with an average life expectany of two to three years. In other words, although most of these programs start out with good intentions, the people involved are not able to sustain what they have initiated, even when they appear to be making good inroads into addressing important problems, such as literacy, health, and rural development. The purpose of the study to be discussed, which is still in progress, is to explore the concept of sustainability in the development, implementation, and on-going evalaution of a cancer education program in a middle-income and multicultural country in Southeast Asia. The major objectives are: (1) to identify those factors and elements that are critical in moving toward a sustainable program, and (2) to ascertain those factors and elements that act as impediments to building a sustainable program.  For the purpose of this study, sustainablity is defined as a program that is addressing important issues and problems, is stable, has an appropriate organizational home,  and structures in place that will carry the program activities into the future regardless of a change in program leadership. In addition, the program must have continuing and adequate funding for staffing, facilities, travel, and needed materials and supplies (Ellais and Schateph, 2009; Seya, 2005; Viezzer, 2006). A conceptual framework was construted prior to initiating the study through an in-depth review of the literature, which is grounded in a number of fields (for example, adult education, agriculture, community development and heath education), to gain a sense of what elements and factors have been previously identified (Caffarella, 2009; Cervero and Wilson, 2006; Data, 2002; Forester, 1989, 1999; Friedman, 2008, Regan, 2005; Vaux and Lund, 2003). The majority of this work consists of theortical and conceptual writings, versus data based research.  	   789	  This literature, on program planning and sustainabiltiy related to social programs suggests that the way in which many new programs are currently planned and implemented does not necessarily take into account the cultural differences in middle- and low-income settings, nor the background and experiences of the people with whom they are planning (Caffarella, 2009). Questions have been raised about the short term nature of funding, and the expectations of the funders that complex changes can be made within these funding cycles (Rodgers, 2003). There is also a tendency to introduce quick solultions in response to these time frames, and find a fast acting  magic bullet that will solve the problems being addressed (Paul, 2010). The program being studied provides education and support services to cancer patients and their families, awareness programs for the general public, materials in the language of the country, and training for volunteers and health care professionals. In addition there is a active reserach program related to cancer education. The study is qualitative in nature. Three major sources being used in the data collection for this study include: document analaysis, semi-structured individual interviews, and group interviews. Four types of key informants are being interviewed: a) staff and volunteers who have worked with the program since its inception in 2003 or have played key roles at times during the program; b) representatives of funding organizations; c) adminstrators not actively involved with the program, but who had or have decision-making authority over the program; and d) health care providers. To date, 21 individual interviews and three group interviews have been completed, for a total of 30 participants. These interviews are in the process of being transcribed.  A very prelimary review of the data has been completed, using the nine transcriptions that have been completed, including initial coding, and notes related to possible categories and themes. Two ideas have been consistent thoughout these interviews. The first is the importance of building relationships as foundational to ensuring a sustainable program. As one respondent observed: “I think relationships are the most important, the building of relationships...The objectives will be achieved much easier when you have the relationships in place”. Second, taking into account cultural differences also seemed key. As highlighed by another respondent: “I think the first thing that people should note is that this is a multicultural country...People have different religious backgrounds and also different racial backgrounds...In the rural area, the people are very sensitive about their religion and we should be careful not to offend what they do.”   References Cervero, R.M., & Wilson, A.L. (2006). Working the planning table. Negotiating democratically for adult, continuing, and workplace education.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Caffarella, R.S. (2009). Crossing borders: A conceptual framework for program planning. Proceedings Data, R. (2003). From development to empowerment: The self-employed women’s association in India. International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society (16)3, 351-368.  Ellis, D., & Sachathep, K. (2009). EDS[Education for Sustainable Development] Currents: Changing Perspectives from the Asian-Pacific. Bangkok: UNESCO, Bangkok. 	   790	  Forester, J. (1999). The deliberative practitioner. Encouraging participatory planning processes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Friedmann, J. (2008). The uses of planning theory: A bibliographic essay. Journal of Planning Education and Research (28). 247-257. Nyong, A. Adensina, F., & Osman, Elasha, B. (2007). The value of indigenous knowledge in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in African Sahel. Mitigating Adaption Strategies in Global Change, 12, 787-797. Paul, K.H., Stolzfus, R.J., & Caffarella, R.S. (2010). Approaches to assessing context and culture in international nutrition education programs. Proceedings of the 51st Annual Adult Education Research Conference ( pp. 394-400). California State State University at Sacremento, CA. Regan, T. (2005).  Non-Western education traditions: Indigenous thought and practice (3rd Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffiusion of Innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press. Seya, P.T. (2005). Adult education and African development in the context of globalism. Adult Education and Development Journal,65, Retrieved January 31, 2007 from http://www.iiz-dvv.de/english/default.htm.  Vaux, T. & Young, F. (2003). Working women and security: Self-employed women’s association’s response to crises. Journal of Human Development,4 (265-280). Viezzer, M.L. (2006). Environment, education, and sustainable development. Convergence, XXXIX(4), 45-50.  

Sustainable Program Development in Cancer Education: A Case Study

https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3105&amp;context=aerc

Sustainable Program Development in Cancer Education: A Case Study

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Kansas State University