Date: March 6, 2002
Contact: Charity Peters, M.A.
Phone: 443-260-9113
(Salisbury, MD) The University of Maryland Statewide Health Network (MSHN) announced that its Eastern Shore Regional Office is among this year's recipients of a grant award from The Maryland Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for Breast Health Education.
MSHN's Eastern Shore Regional office proposal focused on four of Komen's adopted goals: to address unmet needs and gaps in service in Maryland; culturally specific educational materials; innovative ideas for outreach targeted to minority populations; and physician education on breast health guidelines.
Titled "You Ought to be in Pictures: The Community Mammography Project" is a community-based breast health and breast cancer screening education project, with a special focus to reach African American women in Somerset County of the lower Eastern Shore. The "pictures" project will use culturally appropriate and relevant educational materials; and through a poster campaign, will feature local African American women who have demonstrated the value of early detection and screening, and provide physician/provider education on breast health guidelines.
"A culturally sensitive outreach to the minority community has the potential to encourage more women to participate in our Breast and Cervical Cancer Program," stated Colleen Parrott, RN/MS, Somerset County Health Officer. Dr. Claudia Baquet, Director of MSHN and Associate Dean at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine added, "increased screening of African American women could make a substantial impact on reducing the mortality rates, improving quality of life and five-year survival rate if breast cancer is detected early. This effort will also help reduce the disparities."
Caucasian women have a higher incidence of breast cancer than African American women. However, African American women have a higher mortality rate than Caucasian women. Screening rates are lower among African American women than Caucasian women. The recent decrease in deaths from breast cancer in Caucasian females is attributed to greater use of breast cancer screening in regular medical care. However, deaths due to breast cancer in African American women continue to increase, in part, because breast cancer is diagnosed at later stages in African American females. "You ought to be in Pictures: The Community Mammography Project" was developed to address the above-mentioned disparities.
The mission of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by advancing research, education, screening, and treatment. The Maryland Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation recently funded innovative projects in the areas of breast health and/or breast cancer education/outreach, screening, or treatment projects targeting services not otherwise available to the medically underserved populations of Maryland, excluding Prince George's and Montgomery counties.
For more information on the project or breast cancer education resources in your area, please feel free to contact Charity Peters, M.A., Eastern Shore Regional Coordinator, University of Maryland Statewide Health Network, at 443-260-9113.
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