Patient navigation to improve breast cancer screening in Bosnian refugees and immigrants.
Refugee women have low breast cancer screening rates. This study highlights the culturally competent implementation and reports the outcomes of a breast cancer screening patient navigation program for refuge/immigrant women from Bosnia. Refugees/immigrant women from Bosnia age 40-79 were contacted by a Serbo-Croatian speaking patient navigator who addressed patient-reported barriers to breast cancer screening and, using individually tailored interventions, helped women obtain screening. The proportion of women up-to-date for mammography was compared at baseline and after 1-year using McNemar's Chi-Square test. 91 Serbo-Croatian speaking women were eligible for mammography screening. At baseline, 44.0% of women had a mammogram within the previous year, with the proportion increasing to 67.0% after 1-year (P = 0.001). A culturally-tailored, language-concordant navigator program designed to overcome specific barriers to breast cancer screening can significantly improve mammography rates in refugees/immigrants.
Chelsea HealthCare Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Chelsea, MA 02150, USA. spercaclima@partners.org
Sanja
S
Percac-Lima
Bosiljka
B
Milosavljevic
Sarah Abernethy
SA
Oo
Danelle
D
Marable
Barbara
B
Bond
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data