Cancer Awareness and Prevention Education

The University of California Davis, Comprehensive Cancer Center's (UCDCCC) Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (OCOE) serves the 19 catchment counties which approximately consists of 5 million residents. Currently, the overall catchment population cancer screening rates fall below 80%. The aim of OCOE is to increase cancer education (prevention, screening, and vaccination) and training. Through education, and encouraging participation in routine screening for early detection, this can help increase cancer knowledge. In addition to cancer education, OCOE wants to educate community members regarding modifiable risk factors which include tobacco usage, being overweight/obese (physical inactivity/poor nutrition), and lack of immunizations. By increasing knowledge of cancer prevention, screening, and vaccination this will help community members become more aware of their cancer risk.

Individuals with Intellectual disability face numerous barriers to cancer education, awareness and screening, including communication challenges, anxiety, and a lack of accessible educational resources. Traditional methods often fail to meet their unique learning needs, contributing to lower screening rates , delayed diagnoses and poorer outcomes.. Socially assistive robots, have demonstrated effectiveness in delivering interactive, engaging, and tailored education, helping individuals with cognitive impairments better understand medical procedures and the importance of preventive care. The study investigators propose to conduct a pilot single arm clinical trial with a semi humanoid robot to deliver cancer awareness education to adults with intellectual disability attending a disability day service in Ireland .The semi humanoid robot will be programmed to engage in 2 way communication about the cancer related educational content that is uploaded on its system. .Approximately 25 adults with ID will receive the robot led educational intervention addressing both breast and colorectal cancer awareness and screening. This a pragmatic pilot study to inform a future larger controlled clinical trial Our overall objective is to Improve breast and colorectal cancer awareness knowledge level among adults with ID receiving a robot-delivered education intervention