Cancer outreach draws 30 volunteers

About 30 volunteers have signed up for the breast and cervical cancer health outreach training program of the Commonwealth Cancer Association.

CCA program manager Tina Sablan said yesterday that they are “overwhelmed” with the community’s response on their call for volunteers, adding that their goal was to have only 10 volunteers.

“This is a pilot project and it’s the first time that we’re going to be doing this, training volunteers to be able to reach out to the community,” she told Saipan Tribune. “Hopefully, this is the first of our many training programs.”

Te volunteers will need to complete 12 sessions, broken down to two-hour training sessions every week for a total of six weeks.

The group of volunteers, Sablan said, has so far completed trainings in Cancer 101; Basics of Breast & Cervical Cancer; Nutrition, Physical Activity, & BMI; Navigating Resources & Making Referrals; The Breast & Cervical Screening Program; Patient Privacy Rights & Sensitivity Training; Introduction to Communication Skills & Outreach Strategies; and Life Beyond Cancer (Survivorship).

Trainers include Commonwealth Health Center Women’s Clinic’s Dr. Jeanolivia Grant, registered dietician Hee Jae Lee; Breast & Cervical Screening Program manager Jocelyn Songsong; Comprehensive Cancer Control Program manager Joanne Ogo; and HIV/STD Program manager John Moreno.

According to Sablan, volunteers are given a pre-test before the training session to determine their knowledge on the topic as well as a post-test to determine their level of understanding on the training they received.

“They [volunteers] also have a training manual, which also provides guidance on the subjects covered in the training,” she added.

On Saturday, Sablan said they will have an outreach planning meeting with Glimpses, the marketing agency they contracted for the training program.

“Their goal is to be helping us with a media campaign as well as our outreach materials that the volunteers will be using in their outreach activities,” said Sablan.

Next week, nurse and patient educator Bobby Ayres will wrap up the training program with awareness and lifestyle strategies that the volunteers can come up with in living a healthier life and reducing overall cancer risks.

“A lot of it is lifestyle and behavior-related and it’s something that people do have control over so we want to emphasize that in the community,” explained Sablan.

While they already have the volunteers who are expected to graduate from the training program next Saturday, Sablan said it’s only the beginning.

“When they complete the graduation, that’s just the beginning of the whole outreach campaign. We’re very excited,” she added.