Abstract IA23: Engaging refugees and immigrants in breast health education

Abstract

Abstract Refugees and immigrants often come from countries where preventative medicine and cancer screening opportunities are neither attainable nor a priority. Often, preventative services like mammography are new concepts for immigrant and refugee women. Language barriers can decrease patients' access to services, especially for screening tests. Barriers to health screenings include cultural belief factors along with limited knowledge, racial discrimination, embarrassment, fear of the test and/or diagnosis, and lack of culturally appropriate health resources. While barriers make it difficult for refugee and immigrant women to gain access to health services, the need to provide culturally sensitive health educational programs that address these issues in a culturally sensitive way is essential to ensure a healthy life style for this population. The International Institute has over 100 years of experience in serving refugees and immigrants in many capacities and is considered a reliable resource within the local immigrant and refugee community. The Institute worked closely with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, local community health centers, and resettlement agencies to provide culturally tailored health education programming to over 1500 refugee and immigrant women and men, and screened approximately 400 women for mammography and clinical breast exams. Additionally, the institute has educated over 1,000 local health care providers working with the immigrant and refugee population on the importance of cultural competency in order to impact their cultural sensitivity in their current medical practices. Educational programs that train health care providers in cultural competency have been shown to improve patient-provider interaction. Successful methods used in working with the immigrant and refugee population include utilizing cultural and linguistic diverse staff, proficient interpreters and translators, and partnering with community-based agencies that also serve this population. Building trust and creating personal relationships with female attendees are crucial in working with the immigrant and refugee population. Fear of the cancer test and/or diagnosis is a major barrier for most immigrant/refugee women, and to freely discuss breast health and the importance of cancer screening is a novel concern, as the word “cancer” is taboo in most cultures and is not openly discussed. This presentation will discuss strategies used to engage this diverse population and discuss lessons learned from multiple community-based educational programs on breast health among immigrant and refugee females. Citation Format: May Shogan, Frances Saad-Harfouche. Engaging refugees and immigrants in breast health education [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr IA23.