Cervical cancer prevention project for inner city black and Latina women

Early detection, appropriate intervention, and adequate followup treatment make cervical cancer one of the most preventable of all diseases. The authors propose a project designed to increase knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer and its prevention and ultimately to decrease morbidity and mortality rates for cervical cancer in black and Latino inner-city communities of Boston. During a 3-year project the authors hope to reach about 500 high-risk women who currently do not have access to health care services. The interventions would be based in the Boston, MA, community areas of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, specifically in those neighborhoods served by a designated community health center. High rates of cervical cancer are found in inner-city communities, where black and Latina women usually are overrepresented. About 80 percent of the women served by the designated community health center are either black or Latina. The proposed intervention has three objectives: (a) to increase the use of health services by so-called hard-to-reach women in those communities; (b) to reduce the numbers of women who, after learning of their abnormal Papanicolaou test results, do not return for followup; and (c) to increase sensitivities toward the problem and to encourage participation in such a project among health care providers at the community health center.