This Colon Cancer Risk Counseling program is available to adults, aged 40 and older, who have a family history of colorectal cancer in at least one first-degree relative. Individuals with a first-degree relative has had colorectal cancer are at increased risk, and should participate in early detection. Participants receive individual one-hour, face-to-face health counseling sessions with a health educator. The sessions include a chart to review general information about colorectal cancer, risk factors, types of colorectal cancer screening, and screening guidelines. Participants receive individually tailored materials, including a personal risk profile, a personal screening recommendation chart, an action planning form, and feedback about perceived benefits and barriers to screening. Participants receive follow-up phone calls to review action plans, reinforce information about risk reduction, provide further counseling, and review screening results for participants who have been screened.

The goal of this program is to increase cancer screening among individuals with first-degree relatives who have had colorectal cancer.

In a randomized controlled trial comparing intervention participants with individuals who received a comparable general health counseling intervention. Participants in the Colon Cancer Risk Counseling program increased knowledge and perceived risk when compared to the control group. The intervention group had a significantly greater increase in screening adherence from baseline to 4-month follow-up (from 29% to 49%) when compared to the control group (from 31% to 38%) (p = 0.03). The intervention group had a net increase of 17 percentage points over the control group at the 12-month follow-up.