Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida, Inc: “Women SHINE Project”
Family Health Centers of South Florida, Inc. (“FHC”) will be continuing and expanding the Women SHINE Project (Sharing Hope, breast health Information, and the Newest guidelines leaving women Empowered to know their own bodies). This Project provides educational opportunities that allow women to become proactive advocates for their own breast health. This Project targets and benefits the uninsured and underserved women in Lee, Charlotte, and western Hendry Counties through critical one-on-one and group education workshops. With transportation being a major barrier to care for these uninsured and underserved women, the SHINE team provided and will continue to provide education on-site by:
- Attending migrant outreach health fair events at local farmworker housing/camps while migrant farmworkers seek free medical care.
- Visiting local food pantries throughout three-county area (Lee, Charlotte, and western Hendry) as mothers in need seek out food necessities.
- Setting up a breast health booth at many of the FHC medical sites and providing one-on-one education as women wait to be seen by their doctor as a walk in/sick visits,
To eliminate language barriers and to better reach the population in need, the culturally- sensitive, tri-lingual SHINE Project care team speaks fluent Spanish, English, and Creole.
Wildflower Healthcare- Good Samaritan Health Centers, Inc: “Breast Health Education Program”
The two partners, Wildflower Healthcare and Pink Up the Pace, have developed a new program designed to educate more men and women about the value of early screening and detection, and debunk myths around breast cancer and mammograms. Pink Up the Pace sponsors six Mammogram Days a year with three local imaging centers. The goal of this new initiative is to implement a breast health education program within St. Johns County aimed at educating the uninsured about the importance of breast health and early diagnosis. To achieve the goal breast health education workshops will be offered to small, community-based groups of men and women who may be reluctant or not understand the benefits of early screening. Sixteen workshops, an average of four workshops each quarter, will be offered at different locations throughout the County where underserved residents reside. The two organizations will develop a calendar for the Mammogram Days, which typically occur in the Spring, Summer and Fall. Wildflower’s Outreach team will then develop a workshop schedule that leads up to each Mammogram Day. Based on the targeted area within the community, existing relationships will be tapped to host workshops within their setting or community. Pink Up the Pace founders have agreed to provide additional in-kind incentives for the workshops such as giveaways and breast exam shower cards. These workshops have been piloted this fall with small groups in non-profit organizations, such as Learn to Read and St. Gerard’s, a program for young, single mothers.
Health Education, Prevention & Promotion, Inc. (HEPP): “Faith based Breast Cancer Outreach”
Health Education Prevention & Promotion, Inc. (HEPP) provides linguistically and culturally appropriate health education in English and Creole directed at improving health literacy. A focus area is breast cancer due to evidence of late stage diagnosis of cancer, disproportionate breast cancer mortality rates and lack of culturally appropriate information on cancer among Black women especially Haitians. HEPP’s faith-based comprehensive breast cancer awareness and education program seeks to improve beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, screening and treatment behaviors among medically underserved, low literacy and linguistically isolated Haitian women, US-Black women and Caribbean Black women living in Miami and Homestead. The program has empowered Black women especially Haitian women to take charge of their breast health. Black women face disparities in breast cancer outcome due to screening practices, access to care, and overall socioeconomic status. In addition Isolation, fear, misconception and shame are often felt by many Haitians diagnosed with breast cancer. This year the program will also provide education to Haitian women and their caregivers at the HEPP sponsored Support Program for Haitians with Cancer.
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center: “LIFE (Learning about the Impact of Breast Health Education: Facebook Live Events)”
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer incidents and mortality in females in the US and Florida. Lack of awareness and knowledge are common barriers that are often identified as to the reasons why men and women do not proactively seek and get the necessary preventative screenings and treatment to prevent or delay the onset of breast cancer. Additionally, after diagnosis, patients may be unaware of their treatment options, opportunities for clinical trials, and important survivorship issues. Thus, education is needed across the breast cancer continuum, particularly among underserved and minority communities that are more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and have poorer outcomes. While in person education and outreach strategies are an important approach to informing women about varying aspects of breast cancer, they are often time consuming and resource intensive. Social media provides an important tool that can be leveraged to reach a larger and more diverse segment of the population with timely and relevant information from experts. The LIFE project (Learning about the Impact of breast health education: Facebook live Events) is being proposed to provide quarterly breast health education sessions. The use of virtual technology to allow the researchers and clinicians at Moffit Cancer Center to have a greater reach into vulnerable communities and provide information on general breast health and special populations, prevention, research, treatment and survivorship resources.
Ana G. Mendez University: “Entre Nosotras: Part II”
As a Hispanic Serving Institution, Ana G. Mendez University serves the higher educational needs of nontraditional students through a bilingual and all English degree nursing programs and thus, is uniquely positioned to reach college students and adult women in underserved communities with important breast health information. Together We Achieve More is a Cancer prevention and awareness program across Ana G. Mendez University sister campus, located at: South Florida, Metro Orlando and Tampa Bay. The students and faculty of the campaign will use Spanish and English literature from leading organizations. Phase I explores an in-depth of types of breast cancer, risk factors and prevention education series at each campus for students and neighboring underserved communities under the conversational workshop model. To extend the impact of the awareness, student engagement through assignments and volunteer projects to support the campaign: a) breast cancer awareness education outreach with community partners; b) breast cancer education campus encounters, and c) neighboring communities/locations such as, schools, social centers, and community partner events in the underserved communities.
Central Florida Family Health Center d/b/a True Health: “ The Breast Cancer Screening: Prevention and Early Detection Saves Lives Project”
Central Florida Family Health Center, Inc., dba True Health is an accredited patient-centered medical home. Our principle objective is to remain the catalyst of affordable, primary, high-quality health care throughout Central Florida. The “Breast Cancer Screening: Prevention & Early Detection Saves Lives Project” is a new endeavor to perpetuate True Health’s efforts of providing high-quality, comprehensive healthcare for everyone. The project will focus on breast health education which will encompass early detection/prevention, mental health and nutrition.
The “Breast Cancer Screening: Prevention & Early Detection Saves Lives Project” education sessions will feature stations set up within our health clinics. Sessions will be offered in English and Spanish to reflect the diversity of the communities served.
SISTAAH Talk, Inc: “Lil SISTAAH Talk”
Lil Sistaah Talk! is a breast health program which highlights breast cancer prevention. The primary focus is lowering breast cancer risk factors by teaching basic breast health, healthy eating and physical activity. Through innovative instruction with emphasis on modifiable lifestyle changes. Sistaah Talk! has designed an interactive program for pre-mammogram aged adult women and female relatives of breast cancer survivors, who have never been diagnosed with cancer. The essential scope of Lil Sistaah Talk! is to increase the participants knowledge of breast health, improve prevention tactics; and erase any confusions and fears related to breast cancer. The Lil Sistaah Talk! curriculum is basic teaching on breast anatomy, health behavior, cancer prevention strategies, and promoting early detection. Participant recruitment will be managed by members of Sistaah Talk! support group. Upon completion of a Lil' Sistaah Talk! workshop, participants will be able to: 1) complete a self-assessment of breast health knowledge; 2) recognize abnormal breasts and identify changes; 3) identify healthy breast behavior concepts; 4) list lifestyle behaviors for breast cancer risk reduction and prevention; and 5) advocate for individual/personal healthy breast health behavior. Within small group settings averaging about 15-20 participants per session, we anticipate educating a minimum of 300 women.
Florida Department of Health Broward County, FBCCEDEP: “Hispanic/Latino Breast Cancer Education”
The goal of the project "Hispanic/Latino Breast Cancer Education" is to educate Hispanic/Latino women in Tri-county County (Broward, Palm Beach, Martin) on the importance of breast cancer screening and the breast health services available in the community. Participants who meet the Florida Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (FBCCEDP) eligibility criteria will receive breast and cervical cancer screenings, follow-up for abnormal results and referrals for treatment if they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Two education sessions will be hosted in collaboration with Hispanic Unity (Broward), Light of the World Clinic (Broward) and Caridad (Palm Beach). The project will also seek to establish partnership with organizations that primarily serve the Hispanic/ Latino population in Martin county which will enable FBCCEDP to educate the targeted population on the importance of breast cancer screening.
North Broward Hospital District d/b/a Broward Health: “Breast Health Education Program”
The Breast Health Education Program (BHEP) is new to Broward Health. Broward Health offers breast cancer prevention outreach, education, screening, and treatment programs for persons who belong to low-income, underserved, and/or ethnic minority households, however, BHEP is the first program that will provide breast health education to young women and men who are middle and high school age. BHEP will provide education in a small group setting. Over a 12-month period, BHEP will host eight developmentally appropriate information sessions. BHEP will recruit no less than eight participants per session. BHEP will be hosted at middle and high schools throughout the community. Developmentally appropriate information will be presented in small group sessions that are expected to last 45- 60 minutes per session. Before each session, participants will complete a questionnaire, of which responses will be used to determine a baseline and measure changes in knowledge. Sessions will be presented by Medical Residents who are part of Broward Health’s Office of Graduate Medical Education’s (GME) Residency Program. The GME program has existed at Broward Health for more than 10 years, and is currently Accredited with Commendation by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Medical Education.
Big Bend Rural Health Network: “We Are One”
Breast cancer is the most common cancer to affect women, other than skin cancer, regardless of race and ethnicity within the United States (CDC, 2017). Out of 100,000 women, nearly 126 new cases will arise and 21 women will die from this disease per year. Black women make up the highest demographic to die per 100,000 from breast cancer (SEER, 2015). Our program, “We Are One”, aims to reduce this health disparity through educational workshops and interactive classes in Jefferson, Madison and Leon County.
Big Bend Rural Health Network. (BBRHN) proposes providing a one-year project to educate vulnerable populations about information related towards breast health. Empowering participants to take preventive steps in reducing the effects of breast cancer, “We are One” influences the behaviors that shape the view of breast cancer. Learning about proactive measures to use before diagnosis, identifying risk factors for breast cancer and understanding the importance of early detection, we hope to leave individuals with the necessary tools to deal with breast health and breast cancer. Through the power of education and interaction, a foundation can be created to stand upon in being proactive about breast health and breast cancer.
#PrayInPink: “I Pledge”
The “I Pledge” project is an expansion of the educational component which began in 2019. While providing services last year, the lack of knowledge regarding breast self-exams and clinical breast exams was discovered. #PRAYINPINK is committed to fill the gap and make education an ongoing component of services provided. The current program is a workshop style gathering, individuals are educated via PowerPoint presentation on how to perform a breast self-exam and how to request their healthcare provider/PCP perform a clinical breast exam at their annual physicals. Breast cancer risk factors and warning signs are also covered in the presentation. After the presentation, each participant is given an “I Pledge” postcard with 3 pledges: (1) to perform a monthly breast self-exam; (2) to have a yearly clinical breast exam and (3) to have an annual mammogram. They place a checkmark in all boxes that apply to them. There is also a blank line for them to add a personal pledge and then print their name. Participants can also feel for lumps on a 2-inch mini breast model. #PRAYINPINK seeks to expand the program: provide participants with a magnetic postcard to display in a high visibility area, have a display board on hand to review breast health data, have printed copies of the presentation as a reference, provide permanent ink markers to write their personal pledge, 3 full-size educational breast models to create a hands-on experience, distribute breast self-exam shower cards, distribute pink breast cancer awareness ribbons to continue the conversation and package it in a reusable “early detection” tote bag.