Motivating an underserved African American population to seek breast and prostate cancer screening utilizing a coalition of 11 community-based organizations.

Abstract

e16556 Background: African Americans (AAs) suffer a higher mortality rate due to breast and prostate cancer compared to Caucasians for multiple reasons. There is evidence that partnering with trusted community-based organizations can successfully motivate underserved AA populations to seek preventive services. Methods: The Sacramento Community Cancer Coalition was formed to increase the number of underserved AA individuals in the Sacramento, California area receiving age-appropriate breast and prostate cancer screening. The first Coalition event was a one-day health fair at a student-run free clinic in Sacramento in which breast and prostate cancer screening examinations were offered free of charge. Marketing efforts targeting AAs were conducted before the health fair. Attendees were provided an interview assessing background/demographic information, beliefs about cancer screening, reasons for being screened, and knowledge about cancer risk factors. Results: Interviewees were racially and ethnically diverse- 46% AA, 19% Caucasian, 19% Hispanic/Latina, 8% Asian, 8% Other. The percentage of AA individuals who attended the health fair was higher than the percentage of AA individuals attending the clinic during the 9 months preceding the fair (46% vs. 22% of attendees at each time point, respectively Z = 2.5, p < 0.05), suggesting that the health fair was successful at encouraging AAs to attend the event. Preliminary analysis of the interview data revealed few differences between AA attendees and attendees of other race/ethnicities in terms of reasons for being screened for cancer, beliefs about cancer screening, and knowledge of cancer and cancer risk factors. Knowledge of cancer risk factors was relatively poor among all attendees, regardless of race/ethnicity. Conclusions: The collaborative model was successful in attracting a hard to reach underserved African American population. No significant financial relationships to disclose.