Promoting breast health among urban African-American women: evidence supporting the need for a purposeful pursuit of the promise.
While several reports of studies undertaken to examine the influence of individual factors and access to quality care on the breast cancer outcomes of African-American women have been published, few studies have been reported that examined the interaction of these factors with variables associated with the social and physical environment. This report presents a summary of outcomes of a study undertaken to explore the impact of individual factors, social factors, environmental factors, and access to quality breast care on breast awareness and breast cancer screening practices among a targeted group of African-American urban women. The findings revealed that awareness and screening were significantly influenced by the participant's age, insurance status, characteristics of their social environment, and their breast awareness. The findings emphasize the need for targeted programming and services in low-income communities and inner-city neighborhoods where women may be less inclined to "venture out" and where clinicians, educators, researchers, and representatives of institutions dedicated to breast cancer control have been less inclined to "venture in."
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; College of Nursing, 1921 E. Hartford Avenue, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA. underwoo@uwm.edu
Sandra Millon
SM
Underwood
Sheryl T
ST
Kelber
Bonnie
B
Anderson
Keighla
K
Mueller
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D044383:Black People; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D014505:Urban Population; D001741:Black or African American