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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Heather Peiritsch, BSN, Graduate Nursing Program, LaSalle University, 74 Delaware Ct, Newtown, PA 18940, 215 497 0151, hpeiritsch@comcast.net and Mary Ellen Miller, MSN, RN, School of Nursing, La Salle University, 1900 West Olney Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19141.

According to Healthy People 2010 (2000), the most common cancer among women living in the United States is breast cancer. The target goal is to reduce breast cancer deaths to 22.3 per 100,000 females. The National Cancer Institute (2005) estimates that 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer at some point during her lifetime. The American Cancer Society (2005) states that in 2005, women will be diagnosed with an estimated 211,240 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 58,490 cases of in situ breast cancer. The estimated death rate from breast cancer in 2005 is 40,410 women. This poster describes a graduate student project at a suburban Pennsylvania free clinic for the working uninsured population. After performing a thorough agency assessment, lack of personnel time was found as a constraint for educating these women on self-breast examination. Evening and Saturday morning educational sessions titled “Feeling Your Way Around Breast Cancer” were conducted to increase breast cancer awareness. These sessions included formal discussion, a movie demonstrating self-breast exam technique, and hands on use of several breast models. Each participant was able to identify risk factors for breast cancer and identify steps to perform a self-breast examination. Summative evaluations revealed an increase in knowledge of both breast cancer awareness and self-breast examination. “Feeling Your Way Around Breast Cancer” is a valuable method for educating women as it promoted breast cancer awareness and provides a hands-on approach to this public health concern.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Identify risk factors for breast cancer
• Apply steps to perform a self breast examination
• Describe replication strategies that can be used in their own community settings.

Keywords: Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered