Black Corals Cancer Education

Narrator: The Guide to Community Preventive Services What Works to Promote Health presents... The Community Guide in action Black Corals: A Gem of a Cancer Screening Program The Community Guide includes Task Force findings and recommendations to increase screening for breast and cervical cancers. Many life-threatening health problems like breast and cervical cancers can be avoided, or their impact minimized, through preventive measures. But all too often, these measures are not taken. As a result, one of the biggest public health challenges is educating both the public and healthcare providers about wellness and prevention efforts that can save lives and improve the health of our communities. The Community Guide can play a role, as it did in this community in South Carolina. The St. James-Santee Family Health Center was founded in response to a community need for more accessible medical care in rural and disadvantaged communities. The center provides high quality, community-based care that's accessible and affordable. In 2008, the health center's Outreach Coordinator started a program called The Black Corals. The Black Corals Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening program uses a combination of clinic and community-based recommendations for cancer prevention and control found in The Community Guide. The goal is to increase cancer screenings and help women take charge of their own health. Myra Pinckney: I have a friend who purchased some jewelry from Africa and it was black coral beads. And I needed a name for the project. What popped into my head was those black coral beads. I thought of black females. I mean, we're black, we have value, it's precious. So the message is for black women to see themselves as having worth and value, and that their health is important to them. Narrator: To implement the Black Corals program, the clinic received funding through a grant led by the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. The grant required the clinic to use the evidence-based recommendations found in The Community Guide. LeRoy E. Reese, Ph.D.: Our legacy program and the goal of the legacy program through our Reach Project is to build capacity and to help community-based organizations increase screening rates for breast and cervical cancer or the prevention of breast and cervical cancer. And so what we encourage folks to do is understand what the literature says about what works and what doesn't work. A lot of folks have really good ideas about how to engage community and get community to engage in preventive practices, but sometimes good ideas don't translate into effectiveness. And so part of what we directed our applicants to is we said there's this whole body of work that has been done, this Guide that is for communities and identifies these approaches that have been shown to be effective with various demographic groups and for certain kinds of health conditions. And so here's a tool for you. And what happened in this particular case is the Black Corals project said here's an opportunity to take what we're doing, to use an evidence-based approach such as this program, and here's the evidence that supports why it should work with the population that we're working with. Narrator: With guidance from The Community Guide and knowledge of their own community, Myra and her clinic staff were able to identify a combination of screening strategies that are making a big impact on the providers in the clinic, and women in the community. Myra Pinckney: You know, we tried to provide certain cues for them to remind them to ask a patient about screening. Narrator: The Task Force recommends reminding health care providers when it's time for a patient's mammogram or Pap test. The team began inserting red folders into clients' medical charts to alert busy providers to discuss the need for a mammogram or Pap test with their patients. Dr. Jill Peterson: Well, one thing was sometimes we were missing people. They would come in for a cold and we wouldn't realize this is a woman that really needs to be screened for breast and cervical cancer, as well. And that might be something that the clinician would overlook because they weren't thinking about that at that visit. So these red folders were a way Myra came up with to prompt the clinicians here and the providers. So that when we saw a red folder in the chart, even if they were here for a cold, we could say okay, well you are of age, we have this program, you are eligible and we are going to get you in for your breast and cervical cancer screening. And it just prompted us to get that done more efficiently. Myra Pinckney: Over time, by doing the workshops and the bracelets and the mugs and the pink bags, it's kind of caught on, it's really caught on. And we have had several of the churches who have asked if they can do the program in their churches with their women. And it's been good. (Singing) Joyce Gamble: One thing in the state of South Carolina, the mortality rate, they are just not being diagnosed early enough. All of the information that they hear on TV, it influences them to believe that there is no help out there for them if they don't have healthcare. Once they see that you are just as involved in their health as they are, or they would like to be, then they come on board. With the Black Corals program, there is so much support. It's like working with your best friend. Roxie: I enjoyed the presentation. I think it was very informative. I think the community knowledge is good, a lot of things that we're not aware of. This presentation makes us think and more aware of what's going on around us and not to be afraid to ask questions. And once you learn... there's a lady that goes to our church, once we learn better, we do better. Narrator: The success of Black Corals can be measured by the lives it touches. At the educational workshop, breast cancer survivor Mary Brown-Greggs shared her story of how the program helped her get screened, which allowed her to be referred for diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. Mary Brown-Greggs: Through my sister Gwen Brown who works at the St. James-Santee clinic and she introduced me to Myra Pinckney. She told me about the program and they helped me to get insurance and stuff, which I didn't have. It's an organization that can help you, you know, really help you in your time of need with cervical and breast cancer and they are good supporters. Right now I am doing okay, thank you. (applause) Myra Pinckney: It just feels good that we were able to identify these cancers and to identify them early. I know as a nurse, I remember a patient who I will not ever forget in my life. She was in her 30s and she came into the hospital. She had stage IV breast cancer with metastases. And her children were at the bedside the evening she died, and the wailing and the crying and things like that, and I was like, God, if there is anything that I can do to prevent that from happening, I will do it. And here it is, here's the chance to do it. Narrator: The St. James-Santee Family Health Center in McClellanville, South Carolina used these Task Force findings and recommendations on cancer prevention and control: • Reducing structural barriers and client out-of-pocket costs, • Client reminders and client incentives, • Group education and one-on-one education, • Small media and mass media, • Provider assessment and feedback, and • Provider reminder and recall systems The Guide to Community Preventive Services is an essential resource for people who want to know what works in public health. It provides evidence-based findings and recommendations from the Community Preventive Services Task Force about community preventive services, programs, and policies to improve health. The Task Force is an independent, nonfederal, unpaid group of public health and prevention experts. It bases its findings and recommendations on systematic reviews of the scientific literature. With oversight from the Task Force, scientists and subject matter experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct these reviews in collaboration with a wide range of government, academic, policy, and practice-based partners. Find out what works to promote health and safety in your community. The Community Guide includes: • Evidence-based Task Force findings and recommendations • Systematic review methods • Interventions on more than 20 public health topic areas • Information on how to use The Community Guide • And more! You can also sign up to get e-mail notices when new information of interest to you is posted. Visit The Community Guide website at www.thecommunityguide.org.