Comprehensive breast health breast cancer screening & wellness prevention education (pilot) program collaborative

Program purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a breast health/breast cancer screening and wellness education prevention program among 40 to 70-year-old, underserved (low-income & uninsured), overweight Latina women, living in San Fernando, California. The program's curriculum addressed the importance of breast health, comprehensive breast cancer screenings (Breast Self-Examination (BSE), Clinical Breast Self-Examination, MRI, and Mammogram), healthy diet/nutrition and regular physical activity prevention education. A collaborative program was created from the following organizations: California State University of Northridge (CSUN) faculty and student interns from the Departments of Health Sciences, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Kinesiology. Organizations: Inner Images Mobile Mammography Services, Mission Community Hospital, and Vision of Health. This was a six-week program implemented in the spring of 2013. Methods: Participants were recruited through participation from an existing comprehensive diabetes educational program called “Diabetes Teaching Kitchen” at the Mission Community Hospital. Upon participant consent, women were randomly selected into either the experimental or control group. Participants in the experimental group participated in the 6 week program. Data was collected examining the participants' knowledge, skill, behavior, and monthly practice of BSE. Data was also collected examining the participant's diet and exercise patterns pre to post testing. Results from this pilot study will be presented and discussed.