Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

Reports on a follow-up study to the North Carolina Native American Cervical Cancer Prevention Project, conducted on Lumbee and Cherokee women 1989-1995. The initial project used Lumbee lay health advisors as project guides. The project guides conducted face-to-face home visits with the women who agreed to participate. During the first visit, the participants filled out a Health Risk Appraisal form and watched a videotape about cervical cancer and Pap smears. In the second visit, the lay health advisor reviewed the health risk assessment form with the participant, answered questions, and asked about the participant's plans to get a Pap smear. 

The qualitative follow-up study, added on to help deal with equivocal findings in the quantitative study, used one researcher to interview 6 health care providers, one project guide, and 16 women participants.  The researchers concluded that the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was useful; the lay health advisor approach was successful; and participants felt empowered as a result of the project.