Evaluation of Community Health Education Workshops among Chinese Older Adults in Chicago: A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach

Abstract

Background: Health education is one of the proven ways to improve knowledge and change health attitudes and behaviors. This study is intended to assess the effectiveness of five health workshops in a Chinese community, focusing on depression, elder abuse, nutrition, breast cancer and stroke.

Methods: A community-based participatory research approach was implemented to plan and organize the workshops. A total of 236 Chinese community-dwelling older adults participated in different health workshops. Quantitative questionnaires on knowledge, risk factors and outcomes of each health topic were distributed before and after the workshop. Pre and post workshop comparison analyses were conducted to examine the effectiveness of the workshops on knowledge and learning.

Results: Overall, the health workshops have significantly improved participants’ understanding throughout the five health themes (P<0.05). Whereas Chinese older adults have limited knowledge on depression, nutrition and stroke, their health knowledge regarding depression and elder abuse were significantly improved after attending the workshops. In addition, health education workshops increased older adults’ understanding of the risk factors and consequences of depression, elder abuse and breast cancer.

Conclusion: This study sheds light on the importance of promoting health education, and the complexity and challenges of designing health education for community dwelling Chinese older adults. Significant implications for researchers, community service providers, health service workers and policy makers are discussed.