title: Increasing mammography screening among African American women in rural areas.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a church-based breast cancer screening education program on mammography attainment by African American women 40 years old and older in rural Alabama. The sample consisted of 192 women who volunteered to participate in the study through 13 African American churches in a rural, economically-depressed Alabama county. The design was quasi-experimental and had some features of community-based participatory research. Churches were randomly assigned to three groups (full program, partial program and control). The full program (group educational session plus an in-home visit from a Home Health Educator) positively affected mammography attainment (38% increase from baseline to Time 2). In addition, barriers to mammography attainment were reduced for women who had not obtained a mammogram by follow-up. Community-based participatory projects in collaboration with churches and cooperative extension programs have the potential to reduce racial disparities in breast cancer in rural areas.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabasma, Birmingham, AL, USA. powell@tuskegee.edu
authors.forename: Mary Edith
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Eunice
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bonsi
authors.forename: Gwendolyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Licia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Lucile
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taylor-Smith
authors.forename: Quanita
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Pamela C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hull
authors.forename: Van A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Cain
authors.forename: Baqar A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Husaini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education*; D000368:Aged; D000407:Alabama / Q000453:epidemiology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology*; D003256:Community Participation; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012067:Religion; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors