Service agencies may be key to increased rural cancer screenings

Hershey, Pa. — Cancer prevention strategies aimed at medically underserved populations may be most successful when they engage trusted community organizations and service providers. A recent Penn State College of Medicine study found that educating women about breast cancer and available screening options at food pantries in rural Indiana County increased the number of free screenings provided to underserved county residents by 28 percent in one year.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from an initiative of the Indiana County Cancer Coalition to determine whether local adaptation of a nationally recognized cancer screening awareness program would improve rates of screening among rural women. The results were published recently in Journal of Rural Health.

Of 302 age-eligible (at least 40 years old) women, 158 had not had a mammogram in the previous year or had not followed up for a subsequent mammogram after an initial finding. The program provided 138 of these women with a mammogram, and for 13 of them, it was their first. Three women were diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, and all three received treatment.

source - Penn State Live