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Cancer Control Research

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Description) The popular image of Asian-Americans as a "model minority," a group that has successfully overcome its "ethnic handicap" to achieve upward socioeconomic mobility, is only part of the picture. Although Asians may be heavily represented in professional managerial, and administrative occupational categories, federal statistics show they are also over-represented in low-paying labor-intensive service categories. In addition, Asians are now the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. These facts have important ramifications for public health care delivery. Specific barriers hinder the access of Asians to the American health care system, including a shortage of health insurance among new immigrants, and the need for culturally sensitive care and cancer prevention and screening strategies. The proposed study is designed to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among low-income Filipino women residing in Los Angeles County, using a culturally-specific intervention based on an indigenous model including peer influence. The study targets women of Filipino descent because they are one of the largest Asian-American groups, and they have high rates of breast and cervical cancer but low rates of screening. The Principal Investigator has substantial pilot information on cancer screening and related attitudes, as well as prior collaborations with Filipino-American community agencies providing access to many older women of the target group. Specifically, the study seeks to: 1) Recruit through community organizations a sample of 400 Filipino women age 50-75 for a face-to-face baseline interview. 2) Randomize the sample to intervention and control groups. 3) Provide an educational group session discussing breast and cervical cancer screening in the intervention group and exercise and physical fitness in the control; and 4) Conduct a telephone follow-up interview 12 months post-intervention to evaluate the intervention's effectiveness in increasing adherence to breast and cervical cancer screening guidelines. If the recruitment approach and the intervention format succeed with Filipinos, comparable strategies can be attempted with other Asian-American minorities, many of whom are similarly organized into accessible community-based groups.