Learning Together: Sharing Circles in Rural Alaska on Cancer Education Priorities for Youth

Abstract

Culturally relevant health promotion with youth is an opportunity to reduce health inequities in cancer. This manuscript describes sharing circles conducted with three communities in the Northwest Arctic region of Alaska. The circles were designed to begin understanding community priorities and lay the foundation to develop culturally relevant cancer education. The project was guided by the principles of Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR), honored Indigenous ways of knowing, and was grounded in Empowerment Theory. The project team facilitated 13 sharing circles in November 2019 in three communities in the Northwest Arctic. There were a total of 122 participants, including teachers/school staff (31%), community members (30%), high school students (23%), and health professionals (16%). The circles explored youth knowledge, perceptions, questions, concerns, and hopes for cancer information; community members’ desires for youth knowledge about cancer; and how teachers would like content to be formatted for effective inclusion in their classrooms. Common themes from the sharing circles included a desire for information on cancer prevention (all 13 sharing circles) and a need for information on cancer risk factors (12). In most sharing circles, participants shared that cancer information for youth should include stories like those of local people, cancer survivors, and role models (11), visuals (8), and local data and statistics (8). In addition, teachers and school staff in all communities wanted an online resource for teaching about cancer in their classrooms that had short videos/visuals with related lesson plans and activities. “ If I learn, I can reduce the chance of getting cancer in the future. ”

Cancer Education for High School Students in the Northwest Arctic Increases Knowledge and Inspires Intent to Share Information and Reduce Cancer Risk

“…These findings resonated with previous research in distance delivered cancer education with Alaska Native people, where cancer education learners have requested learning through stories and visuals as well as through interactivity and local statistics [8,9]. Further description of the sharing circle process and findings are documented elsewhere [10].…”

‘This Is What the Colour Green Smells Like!’: Urban Forest Bathing Improved Adolescent Nature Connection and Wellbeing

“…Adolescents also engaged in two sharing circles throughout the session, where they were invited to feedback on their experience. The intention of sharing circles is peer learning and benefiting from the experience of others [ 35 ]. For example, one participant may notice a unique colour of leaf, causing other participants to seek out the same leaf.…”

Consequences of Structural Urbanism: Urban–Rural Differences in Cancer Patients’ Use and Perceived Importance of Supportive Care Services from a 2017–2018 Midwestern Survey

“…It is well documented that cancer prevention and risk education resources tailored for rural residents are limited [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Our findings also support that supportive care needs education and programming which addresses the structural inequalities affecting rural cancer patients and their families are needed [ 45 ].…”