249128 Effectiveness of Cuidándome (Taking Care of Me): A communitywide intervention to promote breast and cervical cancer screening among low-acculturated Latinas in Dane county, Wisconsin

Monday, October 31, 2011: 8:30 AM

Lina Vera-Cala, MD, MSc , Department of Population Health Sciences - Department of Public Health, University of Wisconsin at Madison - Universidad Industrial de Santander at Colombia, Madison, WI
Ana P. Martinez-Donate, PhD , Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI
Rhea Vedro, MSc , Community Education Department, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc., Madison, WI
Rosario Angulo , Community Education Department, Planned Parenthood of WI, Inc., Madison, WI
Tanya Atkinson , Community Education Department, Planned Parenthood of WI, Inc., Madison, WI
     
A longitudinal study was used to evaluate the effectiveness of Cuidándome (Taking Care of Me), a lay health advisor (LHA) intervention to increase breast and cervical cancer (BCC) screening among low-acculturated Latinas. Cuidándome participants' BCC knowledge, behavioral intentions, and practices were evaluated at baseline and 1 and 3 months after attending a LHA-led home health party. Of 353 study participants (mean age=34.2; SD=9.6; 59.4% monolingual Spanish), only 275 completed the two follow-up measures (22.1% attrition rate). There were not statistically significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics between women who were lost to follow-up and those who remained in the study. For the consistent cohort, last 12-month mammogram receipt increased from 33% at baseline to 37% (p=0.007) at 1-month, and 54% (p<0.001) at 3-months follow up. Intentions to get a mammogram during the next 12-months increased from 70% at baseline to 88% (p=0.641) at first follow-up and 87% at second follow-up (p=0.237). Last 12-month Pap smear receipt increased from 58% at baseline to 66% at 1-month follow-up (p<0.001) and 69% at 3-months follow-up (p<0.001). Intentions to get a Pap smear during the next 12-months increased from 83% at baseline to 91% at first follow-up (p<0.001) and 95% at second follow-up (p<0.001). Knowledge about screening guidelines, risk and protective factors for BCC, and where to get these tests was significantly better after participating in the program (p<0.001). Knowledge about screening guidelines increased from 2.0 to 2.6 (0-3 scale) for mammogram and from 4.3 to 6.3 (0-7 scale) for Pap smear. Knowledge on risk and protective factors for BCC increased from 4.4 to 7.7(0-12 scale) for mammogram and from 4.6 to 7.2 (0-10 scale) for Pap smear. A LHA-based intervention was effective to increase BCC knowledge, intentions, and practices in low-acculturated Latinas.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Learning objective 1: To evaluate the effectiveness of Cuidándome (Taking Care of Me), a lay health advisor-led intervention to increase BCC screening among immigrant Latino women in Dane County. Learning objective 2: To evaluate the effectiveness of Cuidándome (Taking Care of Me), a lay health advisor-led intervention, to increase BCC screening knowledge and behavioral intentions among immigrant Latino women in Dane County.

Keywords: Cancer Screening, Community-Based Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified because I am a medical doctor with a master degree in Epidemiology who has conducted other studies on factors related to adherence of breast and cervical cancer screening guidelines in Colombia and I, as PhD student, has been working in the present study conducted with the Latino community resident in Dane County, Wisconsin, since the beginning of the evaluation of the intervention.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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