Cultural Strategies to Promote Breast Cancer Education in African American Women: A Survey Report

Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in African American women. While breast cancer mortality rates declined 2.6% annually between 1992 and 2000, the decline was twice as great for White women as for African America women. Older African American women continue to have high rates of mortality from breast cancer. Researchers have suggested several reasons for this continued disparity including socioeconomic factors, cultural factors, beliefs, and barriers. Further, based on a survey conducted in the state of Georgia (2000), it was found that women had limited knowledge about resources located in their own communities related to mammography screening and other women's health resources. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to summarize recent survey data from years 2003-2008 that relate to developing cultural strategies to promote breast cancer education messages in urban African American women. The project targeted urban African American women living in zip codes designated as high mortality and morbidity related to breast cancer. Two research questions guided the investigation: 1) What are the mammography utilization rates in urban African American women? and 2) What are the cultural strategies that promote and sustain breast cancer awareness in African American communities? While the research study is complete, data analysis has not been finalized. Preliminary findings from the study show that breast health messages are reaching urban African American women. However, barriers such as cost, knowledge of mammography sites, and lack of health insurance continue to keep women from participating in cancer screenings.