The Moondance Bowel Cancer Project schools initiative

Abstract

Background The 5-year survival rate for bowel cancer in Wales is poor and lags behind the rest of the UK. The aim of the pilot phase of the Moondance Schools Initiative was to develop, deliver and assess a bowel cancer learning module for secondary school students in South Wales. Ultimately, we aim to introduce this programme into the National Curriculum across Wales. Methods Two programmes regarding bowel cancer and screening were designed and delivered to a cohort of secondary school pupils in South Wales. This involved interactive teaching with patients and clinicians, practical sessions and live-streamed videos of bowel cancer surgery. Feedback regarding the events and bowel screening was collected from students and their families. Results The programmes were delivered to 185 secondary school students and feedback was extremely positive. The students delivered a live event at the end of the programme to demonstrate their learning to their families and invited guests. Feedback from family members revealed that 100% of respondents were more likely to take a bowel screening test as a result of attending the event. Conclusion This project established that a pilot to create young bowel screening ambassadors is feasible and was positively received by students, their families and the local community. Future work will disseminate the programme further and correlate changes in bowel screening participation in the local area as a result of these events.

Educational interventions to improve bowel cancer awareness and screening in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries: A scoping review

“…Twenty-two studies used LCHEE for awareness interventions ( Boutsicaris et al, 2021 , Miguel et al, 2020 , Portilla-Skerrett et al, 2019 , Molina et al, 2018 , Holt et al, 2019 , Maxwell et al, 2019 , Maxwell et al, 2020 , Jenkins et al, 2022 , Molokwu et al, 2017 , Warner et al, 2019 , Dominic et al, 2020 , Gray et al, 2021 , Ou et al, 2019 , Tong et al, 2017 , Woodruff et al, 2017 , Mojica et al, 2016 , Parker et al, 2021 , Cassel et al, 2020 , Jo et al, 2017 , Nguyen et al, 2017 , Cuaresma et al, 2018 , Lucas et al, 2021 ). Nineteen studies showed improvements although, the findings of three were not statistically significant.…”

“…Twenty-five studies used LCHEE for screening education ( Boutsicaris et al, 2021 , Miguel et al, 2020 , Portilla-Skerrett et al, 2019 , Molina et al, 2018 , Holt et al, 2019 , Maxwell et al, 2019 , Maxwell et al, 2020 , Warner et al, 2019 , Dominic et al, 2020 , Gray et al, 2021 , Ou et al, 2019 , Rafie et al, 2020 , Elder et al, 2017 , Tong et al, 2017 , Woodruff et al, 2017 , Maxwell et al, 2016 , Leone et al, 2016 , Christy et al, 2020 , Mojica et al, 2016 , Parker et al, 2021 , Jo et al, 2017 , Nguyen et al, 2017 , Cuaresma et al, 2018 , Sizer and Conyers, 2022 , Champion et al, 2018 ). Ten studies reported screening intentions ( Boutsicaris et al, 2021 , Miguel et al, 2020 , Portilla-Skerrett et al, 2019 , Molina et al, 2018 , Maxwell et al, 2019 , Warner et al, 2019 , Dominic et al, 2020 , Gray et al, 2021 , Mojica et al, 2016 , Parker et al, 2021 ). Six of those reported improvements ( Miguel et al, 2020 , Molina et al, 2018 , Warner et al, 2019 , Woodruff et al, 2017 , Gray et al, 2021 , Parker et al, 2021 ) and three reported no change ( Boutsicaris et al, 2021 , Portilla-Skerrett et al, 2019 , Mojica et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Ten studies reported screening intentions ( Boutsicaris et al, 2021 , Miguel et al, 2020 , Portilla-Skerrett et al, 2019 , Molina et al, 2018 , Maxwell et al, 2019 , Warner et al, 2019 , Dominic et al, 2020 , Gray et al, 2021 , Mojica et al, 2016 , Parker et al, 2021 ). Six of those reported improvements ( Miguel et al, 2020 , Molina et al, 2018 , Warner et al, 2019 , Woodruff et al, 2017 , Gray et al, 2021 , Parker et al, 2021 ) and three reported no change ( Boutsicaris et al, 2021 , Portilla-Skerrett et al, 2019 , Mojica et al, 2016 ). Mojica et al ( Mojica et al, 2016 ) found no difference between those who did and did not attend the education.…”

“…Mojica et al ( Mojica et al, 2016 ) found no difference between those who did and did not attend the education. Parker et al ( Parker et al, 2021 ) had children teach their families, 100 % of families increased screening intentions post-event. Dominic et al ( Dominic et al, 2020 ) provided social support from loved ones to support screening and found significant improvements.…”

“…Child LCHEE ( Parker et al, 2021 ), a home health party ( Briant et al, 2018 ), a women’s health day ( McBride and Gesink, 2018 ) and a local theatre play ( Friedman et al, 2019 ) all improved awareness and screening intentions and should be further explored. LCHEE faith-based education and counselling is an option to explore further for improving awareness/knowledge as all four studies showed improvements, two reported statistically significance ( Appendix C ) ( Holt et al, 2019 , Maxwell et al, 2019 , Maxwell et al, 2020 , Jenkins et al, 2022 ).…”