Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 14, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 727-730

Patient navigation to improve breast cancer screening in bosnian refugees and immigrants (Article)

Percac-Lima S.* , Milosavljevic B. , Oo S.A. , Marable D. , Bond B.
  • a Chelsea HealthCare Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, 151 Everett Avenue, Chelsea, MA 02150, United States, Center for Community Health Improvement, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, General Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
  • b Chelsea HealthCare Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, 151 Everett Avenue, Chelsea, MA 02150, United States, Center for Community Health Improvement, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
  • c Chelsea HealthCare Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, 151 Everett Avenue, Chelsea, MA 02150, United States, Center for Community Health Improvement, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
  • d Center for Community Health Improvement, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
  • e Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

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 patientreported 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, languageconcordant navigator program designed to overcome specific barriers to breast cancer screening can significantly improve mammography rates in refugees/immigrants. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011.

Author Keywords

Refugees mammograms Breast cancer Patient navigation

Index Keywords

refugee health promotion psychological aspect methodology Massachusetts human Refugees middle aged statistics Bosnia and Herzegovina Aged Early Detection of Cancer ethnology Bosnia-Herzegovina United States Humans Breast Neoplasms Mammography Emigrants and Immigrants breast tumor female Article adult migration Utilization Review patient attitude Patient Acceptance of Health Care early diagnosis
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84865865004&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-011-9539-5&partnerID=40&md5=05ef64472b1e1c3c7c22d56fee462885
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-011-9539-5
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 23
Original Language: English