Statistics show that there are disparities between breast and cervical cancer deaths for African-American and white women. Why?
The REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) 2010 Project is trying to find out why this is happening and what can be done to reduce the disparity, says Dr. Rhoda Johnson, UA associate professor of women’s studies and a co-investigator on the REACH project.
According to Johnson, the mission of REACH 2010, a four-year demonstration project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is to bring together public, private, health and community organizations to enhance the participation of African-Americans in breast and cervical cancer control activities.
“The overall objective of this project is to bring together public and community-based organizations in order to mobilize African-American communities and optimize resources to eliminate this disparity,” said Johnson.
The target population includes African-American women ages 40 and older in three urban and six rural Alabama counties.
The project involves community health advisors tracking approximately 2,800 women over a year to determine whether or not they are following through with their breast and cervical cancer screenings.
“We have identified some basic themes by looking at how organizations such as the health care system, churches and some types of businesses in the community can get involved,” she said.