Aligning cost assessment with community-based participatory research: the Kin KeeperSM intervention

Abstract

The few existing economic evaluations of community-based health promotion interventions were reported retrospectively at the end of the trial. We report an evaluation of the costs of the Kin Keeper(SM) Cancer Prevention Intervention, a female family-focused educational intervention for underserved women applied to increase breast and cervical cancer screening by enhancing cancer literacy. The cost analysis was performed from the perspective of a health organization with established community partnerships adding the Kin Keeper family intervention in the future to an existing community health worker program. The cost of delivering the Kin Keeper intervention, including two cancer education home visits, was $151/family. Kin Keeper is an inexpensive educational intervention delivered by community health workers to promote breast and cervical screening, with strong fidelity and quality. Prospecting cost evaluations of community-based interventions are needed for making informed timely decisions on the adaptation and expansion of such programs.

Keywords: Kin KeeperSM; breast cancer; cervical cancer; community-based participatory research; cost; randomized controlled trial.