Public Health Rep. 1994
Jan-Feb;109(1):104-11.
A nurse-delivered intervention to
reduce barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening in
Chicago inner city clinics.
Ansell D, Lacey L, Whitman S, Chen E,
Phillips C.
Avoidable Mortality from Cancer Project, School of Public
Health, University of Illinois at Chicago.
An 18-month intervention was implemented
to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among poor
African-American women in Chicago. Breast and cervical cancer
screening programs were set up in two public clinics, one
community-based and the other hospital-based. Nurse clinicians
and public health workers were used in these programs to recruit
women in the clinics and in targeted community institutions to
receive free breast and cervical cancer screening. The following
barriers were specifically addressed by the intervention:
accessibility of screening, knowledge about breast and cervical
cancers, access to followup screening examinations, and access
to treatment. A computerized followup system was specifically
designed to track patients. During the 18 months of the
intervention, 10,829 visits were made by 7,654 low-income women.
A total of 84 cases of breast cancer and 9 cases of cervical
cancer were detected. Awareness of the program, as measured by a
survey after the completion of the intervention, increased in
both clinics compared with baseline results. Knowledge about
breast and cervical cancers also increased, as measured by
scores on tests given before and after a class on breast and
cervical cancers. Followup rates were 86 percent for women
attending the programs. More than 90 percent of the women
referred for evaluation of breast abnormalities kept an
appointment. In summary, the intervention was successful in
reducing barriers to breast and cervical cancer detection and in
attracting a high-risk group of women.
PMID: 8303003 [PubMed - indexed for
MEDLINE]
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