Black Women Breast Cancer Survivor SHADES Project

In Missouri, breast cancer is a staggering clinical and public health problem. Missouri has the second highest age-adjusted breast cancer mortality in the United States at 27.8 per 100,000. The Black Women Breast Cancer Survivor (BWBCS) Project is trying to change these statistics through a grass-roots program call SHADES. The BWBCS Project is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project where we conduct Afro-centric research; provide Afro-centric evidence-based programming guided by black women breast cancer survivors (BWBCS) and a community Advisory Committee. In the metropolitan St. Louis community we have been embraced by the community of color. In less than one year, the BWBCS Project has established a strong working relationship with over 400 members of the black community in Metro St. Louis. We have done this by recruiting 100 women into our Long-Term Quality of Life study; 100 community members attended our Health Care Disparities: The Role that Race Plays in St. Louis conference; the Black Women & Breast Cancer: The Knowledge is Power conference drew 226 attendees. These numbers are expected to grow once we launch an Afro-centric website in late-Spring of 2010. The SHADES (Sistas Helping, Advocating and Delivering Education to Empower Sistas) Program is an innovative program designed to empower black women breast cancer survivors to educate the African American Community about the risk of breast cancer and the importance of breast health. Our presentation will focus on our work to date including our outreach efforts to the Board of Alderman of St. Louis, MO.