Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Formative Development Of A Culturally Appropriate Mammography Screening Campaign For Low-Income African-American Women., Kimberly D. Leeks, Ingrid J. Hall, C. Ashani Johnson-Turbes, Ngozi Kamalu, Yasmine Zavahir

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The purpose of this qualitative study was to conduct a formative evaluation of messages and materials to inform the development of a promotional, health campaign designed to increase breast cancer screening awareness and utilization among low-income, uninsured African American women through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) in Savannah and Macon, Georgia (GA). A priority of CDC is to understand why women eligible for screening through the NBCCEDP do not participate in NBCCEDP screening services as well as to identify effective strategies for increasing enrollment among NBCCEDP-eligible women who have never received breast cancer screening. As …

Disparities In Cause-Specific Cancer Survival By Census Tract Poverty Level In Idaho, U.S., Christopher J. Johnson, Aliza K. Fink, Robert R. German

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objective. This population-based study compared cause-specific cancer survival by socioeconomic status using methods to more accurately assign cancer deaths to primary site. Methods. The current study analyzed Idaho data used in the Accuracy of Cancer Mortality Statistics Based on Death Certificates (ACM) study supplemented with additional information to measure cause-specific cancer survival by census tract poverty level. Results. The distribution of cases by primary site group differed significantly by poverty level (chi-square = 265.3, 100 df, p In the life table analyses, for 8 of 24 primary site groups investigated, and all sites combined, there was a significant gradient relating …

American Indian Community Leader And Provider Views Of Needs And Barriers To Colorectal Cancer Screening, Christine M. Daley

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Colorectal cancer is a great concern for the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) community, as incidence and mortality rates remain high and screening rates stay low. We conducted interviews with community leaders (n=13) and with providers from the Indian Health Service (IHS), tribal clinics, and urban safety-net clinics (n=17) in Northeast Kansas and the Kansas City Metro Area to determine their understanding of needs and barriers to colorectal cancer screening among American Indians. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach for this pilot study, community leaders and providers identified similar needs, including: culturally-appropriate education about colorectal cancer and screenings, the potential …

An Innovative Approach For Community Engagement: Using An Audience Response System, Jenna L. Davis, Kara E. Mcginnis, Margaret L. Walsh, Coni Williams, Kevin B. Sneed, Julie A. Baldwin, B. Lee Green

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Community-based participatory research methods allow for community engagement in the effort to reduce cancer health disparities. Community engagement involves health professionals becoming a part of the community in order to build trust, learn from the community and empower them to reduce disparities through their own initiatives and ideas. Audience Response Systems (ARS) are an innovative and engaging way to involve the community and obtain data for research purposes using keypads to report results via power point. The use of ARS within communities is very limited and serves to widen the disparity gap by not delivering new advances in medical knowledge …

Racial Inequality In The Valuation Of Health Outcomes Expressed By The 1992 Acs Guidelines For Prostate Cancer Screening, C. A. Beam

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

In 1992, the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommended annual screening for prostate cancer for men 50 and older using PSA. In this article, I introduce a method to use race and age-specific PSA accuracy data to evaluate differences in the valuation of outcomes by race and age that were expressed by the ACS guidelines. Using this new method, it can be concluded that the guidelines implied a 4-fold greater valuation was assigned to screening young white males with prostate cancer than the value that was assigned to young black males with cancer. Future implementation of guidelines for screening and testing …

Racial Differences In Preventive And Complementary Health Behaviors And Attitudes, Steven E. Shive, Grace X. Ma, Yin Tan, Jamil I. Toubbeh, Lalitha Parameswaran, Lalitha Parameswaran, Joe Halowich

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Screening tests have been developed for many diseases—the presence of cancer, especially—but are differentially utilized among racial/ethnic groups. In addition to standard medical screening techniques, some patients opt to use Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for prevention and treatment. The purpose of the current study is to examine racial/ethnic disparities in primary and secondary preventive health behaviors, determine differences in use of complementary and alternative health regimens, and determine which health attitudes and health self-management factors are associated with use of complementary alternative medicine. If differences among ethnic/racial groups in perceived health status, preventive health care behaviors, and use of …

Transdisciplinary Approaches To Ameliorating Racial Disparities In Prostate Cancer Outcomes, Chanita H. Halbert, Katrina Armstrong, John Holmes, David Fenstermacher, Janet Weiner, Carmen Guerra, J. S. Schwartz, Jerry C. Johnson, Edmund Weisberg, Chantal Montagnet, Benita Weathers, Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, Ernestine Delmoor, Timothy R. Rebbeck

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Though prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cause cancer deaths among men in the US, it ranks first among African American men in terms of incidence, morbidity, and mortality. To address this and other complex health issues, some researchers advocate transdisciplinary research as a framework for analysis; however, few examples exist that indicate how the framework should be applied. This report uses prostate cancer outcomes as a paradigm to describe how such a framework can be used to identify determinants of racial disparities. By integrating diverse scientific disciplines, methods, and analytic approaches from psychology, sociology, epidemiology and genetics, …

Seeking Cancer Information: An Appalachian Perspective, Robin C. Vanderpool, Bin Huang, Brent J. Shelton

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

There are noted disparities by ethnicity, race, age, gender, and socioeconomic status in the reported use of and access to cancer information. Missing from this list of variables that predict these disparities are specific geographic locales, such as Appalachia, a region recognized as a medically underserved, “special population”. Through a secondary analysis of NCI’s 2003 HINTS dataset, we are able to describe the cancer information-seeking behaviors of Appalachians as compared to non-Appalachians with a focus on actual versus preferential information-seeking behaviors, information-seeking experiences, and demographics. In general, Appalachians and non-Appalachians do not significantly differ in their cancer information-seeking behaviors and …

Process Evaluation In Action: Lessons Learned From Alabama Reach 2010, M. C. Nagy, Rhoda E. Johnson, Robin C. Vanderpool, Mona N. Fouad, Mark Dignan, Theresa A. Wynn, Edward E. Patridge, Isabel Scarinci, Cheryl Holt, Sharina D. Person

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The CDC-funded Alabama Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010) project is designed to reduce and eliminate disparities in breast and cervical cancer between African American and white women in six rural and three urban counties in Alabama. In this manuscript, we report on the development, implementation, results, and lessons learned from a process evaluation plan initiated during the Phase I planning period of the Alabama REACH 2010 program. The process evaluation plan for Alabama REACH 2010 focused on four main areas of activity that coincided with program objectives: assessing coalition development, building community capacity, conducting a needs …

Research Brief: An Examination Of The Social And Clinical Influences In Prostate Cancer Treatment In African American And White Men, Keith Elder, Bettina F. Drake, Sara Wagner, James Hebert

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

BACKGROUND: The death rate for prostate cancer (PrCA), the most commonly diagnosed cancer in African-American (AA) men, is twice the rate of European-American (EA) men. AA men in South Carolina have the highest age-adjusted death rate in the nation. Studies have shown that treatment offered to AA men with PrCA is systematically different from that offered to EA men. METHODS: Surveys were mailed to 1,866 men in South Carolina with a diagnosis of PrCA. South Carolina men diagnosed with PrCA between 1996 and 2002 were eligible to participate. We performed a descriptive assessment of the factors that influenced …

Cancer-Related Disparities Among Residents Of Appalachia Ohio, James L. Fisher, Holly L. Engelhardt, Julie A. Stephens, Bette R. Smith, Georgette G. Haydu, Robert W. Indian, Electra D. Paskett

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The authors sought to identify cancer-related disparities in Appalachia Ohio and better understand reasons for the disparities. Data from the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System, among other sources, were used to examine potential cancer disparities among residents of Appalachia Ohio. Using Ohio census data, the authors examined contributions of household income, educational attainment and population density to disparities in cancer incidence. Results suggest the following disparities in Appalachia Ohio (compared to non-Appalachia Ohio): greater cancer incidence and mortality rates for cancers of the cervix, colon and rectum, lung and bronchus and melanoma of the skin; a later stage at diagnosis …

Family Breast Cancer Education: A Model For African American Women, Frankie D. Powell, Edwin D. Bell, Jamilla Shepperson, Thomas Coaxum

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The purpose of this study, funded by the American Cancer Society, was to increase knowledge and understanding, i.e., the willingness and ability to discuss, of breast cancer in southern minority women and their families. A family model of health education guided the research questions. (a) To what extent will an action research intervention increase knowledge about the causes and treatment of breast cancer in minority women? (b) To what extent will an action research intervention increase willingness to talk with family members? The t-test analysis of a 67-item, self- administered survey indicated significant increases in knowledge of cancer and in …

Colorectal Cancer Brochure Development For African Americans, Kim L. Freeman, Lina Jandorf, Hayley Thompson, Katherine N. Duhamel

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Introduction: African Americans are more likely to die from colorectal cancer (CRC) than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States. Unfortunately, African Americans are also less likely to undergo screening for CRC than their White counterparts. Focus groups methodology was used to refine educational brochures designed to increase CRC screening among African Americans.

Methods: Two series of focus groups were completed, with a total of seven groups and 39 participants. Six different brochures (stage-matched and culturally sensitive) designed to promote CRC screening among African Americans were evaluated.

Results: All participants thought that the brochures motivated them …

Using Concepts From Freire’S Pedagogy Of The Oppressed To Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening In An Urban Minority Population, Corey H. Brouse, Charles E. Basch, Randi L. Wolf

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This paper briefly introduces Freire’s philosophy of education, as well as examples of how this philosophy can be used in health education. Concepts from Freire’s work are highlighted along with how they are applicable to educating adults about colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, a health behavior that is less prevalent among poor and minority populations. Concepts highlighted in Freire’s writing can be directly applied to reducing disparities in health.

Prioritizing Interventions And Research To Address The Cancer Disparities Of Arizona’S American Indian Population, Norman J. Petersen, Sujata Joshi, Tim Flood, Kathryn Coe

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The aim of the Southwest American Indian Collaborative Network (SAICN) is to reduce cancer disparities by closing the gap between community needs and the promise of cancer prevention and cure through participatory education, training and research programs. In an effort to provide evidence-based recommendations and promote the use of relevant data in tribal communities, the SAICN Data and Evaluation Core developed two comparison matrices that present scientifically sound practices for use by community health decision makers in prioritizing activities likely to reduce the irrespective community’s burden of cancer. In their current configurations, Matrix A considers those cancers for which prevention …

Cancer Awareness In Alternative Settings: Lessons Learned And Evaluation Of The Barbershop Men’S Health Project, Cheryl L. Holt, Theresa A. Wynn, Katrina Debnam, Mark S. Litaker, Sanford Jeames, Yu-Mei Schoenberger, Penny Southward, Virgil Simons

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Prostate and colorectal cancer are two of the leading causes of cancer deaths among African American men. This study describes lessons learned from the development, implementation and evaluation of a culturally appropriate, barbershop-based intervention to improve prostate and colorectal cancer screening awareness among African American men. Working with an Advisory Panel of shop owners, barbers, and cancer survivors, local barbers were recruited and trained as Community Health Advisors to educate, motivate, and assist their clients in becoming more knowledgeable about prostate and colorectal cancer. Survey results reveal increases in prostate and colorectal cancer knowledge and self-reported screening among participants. Lessons …

Breast Cancer Screening Practices Among American Indians And Alaska Natives In The Midwest, Christine M. Daley, Melissa Filippi, Aimee S. James, Sarah Brokenleg, Stacy Braiuca, K. A. Greiner, Won S. Choi

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women currently have some of the highest mortality rates from breast cancer for any racial/ethnic group in the United States and some of the lowest screening rates. However, current data are not available for regional differences in screening, which can result in dramatically different stage at diagnosis and mortality. We conducted surveys with 120 focus group participants in a needs assessment of mammography among AI/AN in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area and parts of Northeast Kansas. We found that among women under age 40, for whom recommended screenings include only annual clinical breast …