1 / 13

Korean Outreach Workers Reducing Screening Barriers for Korean Women

Korean Outreach Workers Reducing Screening Barriers for Korean Women. Maryland Breast & Cervical Cancer Program Courtney Lewis MPH, CHES Public Education Coordinator. National program screening for eligible, low income, un/under insured women for breast and cervical cancer

limei
Download Presentation

Korean Outreach Workers Reducing Screening Barriers for Korean Women

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Korean Outreach Workers Reducing Screening Barriers for Korean Women Maryland Breast & Cervical Cancer Program Courtney Lewis MPH, CHES Public Education Coordinator

  2. National program screening for eligible, low income, un/under insured women for breast and cervical cancer Priority populations for screening described as women who are racial, ethnic and/or cultural minorities Program is operated through the 22 Local Health Departments and 2 hospitals in Maryland Maryland Breast & Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP)

  3. Baltimore and Howard Counties both have significant Korean populations From 1990 to 2000 Howard County’s Korean population increased from 2,369 to 6,188, or 161% From 1990 to 2000 Baltimore County’s Korean population increased from 4,893 to 5,249 or 7.2% Source: www.census.gov Korean Population in Baltimore County and Howard County

  4. Korean Language MapSource: Modern Language Association www.mla.org

  5. Barriers to Screening for Korean Women • Language • Lack of familiarity of with preventative health services • Fatalistic attitude • Embarrassment and/or dislike of Pap test • Misperceptions about cancer risk • Procrastination • Fear of having cancer or other disease • Source: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/publications/cc-strategies/korean.htm

  6. Korean Outreach Workers • Are trusted, natural helpers from within the community • Provide emotional support, advice, and tangible aid to members in their network • Provide language interpretation during screening appointments, case management and recall

  7. Korean Outreach Strategies • One-to-one recruitment • PSAs in a local Korean newspapers • Outreach to Korean grocery stores • Word of mouth within the Korean community • Korean faith-based organizations and community centers • Program brochures translated in Korean

  8. Howard County Korean Outreach Program Results • Implemented in 1998 in Howard County • 2.5 times increase in percentage of Asian/Korean clients in the first two fiscal years following implementation

  9. Howard County Korean Outreach Program Results

  10. Baltimore County Korean Outreach Program Results • Implemented in 2000 in Baltimore County • 3.2 times increase in percentage of Asian/Korean clients in the first two fiscal years following implementation

  11. Baltimore County Korean Outreach Program Results *Korean Outreach Worker took leave of absence from program for 5 months in Fiscal Year 2006, resulting in lower Asian/Korean women enrolled in program

  12. Implications • The use of bi-lingual Korean outreach workers has demonstrated success in decreasing access barriers and enabled many high-risk Asian/Korean women to obtain breast and cervical cancer screening that they may not have received otherwise.

  13. Sustainability • Continued funding and employment of culturally relevant outreach workers is needed. This concept is illustrated in the significant decrease in percentage of Asian/Korean women served during the period without a Korean Outreach Worker in Baltimore County. • Culturally relevant outreach produces meaningful health communication and progress eliminating related disparities by bridging the health care divide.

More Related