Children's perceptions on cancer: digital storytelling as means of education

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2019

Authors

Oliveira, Hernani (Author) Other; Barbosa, Gonçalo Marques (Author) FLUP; Lima, Helena (Author) FLUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: Conference Proceedings 8th Edition of the International Conference New Perspectives in Science Education

Pages: 212-217

8th Edition of the International Conference New Perspectives in Science Education

Florence, 21-22 March 2019

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Social sciences > Communication sciences

Other information

Abstract (EN): The model of Health-Promoting School has received increasing recognition in Portugal, and oncology prevention has been a recurring theme in several actions that involve the interaction between several actors that go beyond the school community. This study was developed in order to implement an awareness raising action, using programmatic contents of the school curriculum and adapting it to innovative multimedia resources. We achieved the profiling of 625 students between the ages of 9 and 13. The results show that the overwhelming majority of children (98.2%) have heard about cancer, but in one of the schools the percentage of students who consider cancer a contagious disease reaches 12.6%. Risk factors for the development of this type of disease are correctly identified by most of the students (72.9%). Still, nearly 40% of them have the perception that cancer can be originated from a flu. After a multimedia session, of the 625 students participating in this experiment, more than 80% were able to correctly identify risk factors associated with cancer, treatments and positive strategies for living with patients. Of the 21 teachers involved, 18 considered highly relevant the adequacy of new multimedia resources and digital storytelling for the dissemination of health education contents.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific