Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Lynne Faust, NP, MS, RN, CS, Women's Services, Lowell Community Health Center, 15-17 Warren Street, Lowell, MA 01854, 978-446-0236, LynneFA@lchealth.org and Chutema Ping, MD, Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia, #6, Street 150, Sangkat Veal Vong, Khan 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

In Cambodia, a developing country and one of the ten poorest countries in the world, access to colposcopy services is limited, resulting in unnecessary hysterectomies. In spite of availability of full reproductive health services in the U.S., there are numerous barriers to obtaining and following up on pap smears for Cambodians in the U.S., with Southeast Asians reported to have a lower rate of pap testing than any other racial/ethnic group in the country. A nurse practitioner from Lowell Community Health Center (LCHC) in Lowell, MA who has served Cambodian women for over 15 years conducted a fact-finding visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2000 which revealed that gynecologists were forced to perform hysterectomies on women with abnormal pap smears due to lack of colposcopies for diagnostic purposes. Subsequently, she obtained two colposcopes from local hospitals, delivered them to Reproductive Health Association in Phnom Penh, provided training to local physicians in colposcopy, and made two return trips for further quality control work and spread of training and equipment to more rural areas. As a result, almost 3000 women have received colposcopies over four years, with the resulting avoidance of unnecessary hysterectomies. With limited resources a great deal is being accomplished. The option of using colposcopy as a first line of care in developing countries, rather than pap smears followed by subsequent colposcopy when indicated, is discussed. LCHC's approaches to eliminating cultural, linguistic barriers to care for Cambodian women in Lowell, such as outreach, staffing, and patient education are presented.

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

• Identify the factors affecting follow-up for abnormal pap smears in Cambodia and in Massachusetts
• Describe action that can address care for abnormal paps using colposcopy in Cambodia, that may also be applicable to other developing countries.
• Identify strategies for eliminating barriers to reproductive health care among Cambodian and other refugee and immigrant populations in the U.S.

Keywords: Asian Women, Cervical Cancer

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered