
July 31, 2017 | by Dory Benford
For people living in minority and underserved communities, the divide between patients and health care providers can be hard to overcome.
These patients can feel that their concerns are not being heard, their doctors don’t understand where they’re coming from culturally or linguistically, or that they are being condescended to.
Sadly, these communication breakdowns can be fatal when individuals skip recommended cancer screenings or ignore cancer-related symptoms they may be experiencing, all to avoid doctor visits.
At City of Hope, the Center of Community Alliance for Research & Education (CCARE), seeks to facilitate better communication between minority patients and health care practitioners by fostering strong partnerships with community organizations.
We spoke to CCARE’s manager, Mayra Serrano, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., about the methods they use to bring their cancer prevention messages to the community.
There are several reasons that people living in minority or underserved communities may be hesitant to seek medical care.
“The most common thing I hear is that people are afraid screening exams are going to hurt — that they’re painful. They feel they don’t need it because they feel fine, and we’re talking about prevention and screening for things you don’t have. This isn’t something where you are sick and you have a cold, so you want to go to the doctor. It’s a hard sell, because we’re asking people to go through sometimes invasive procedures when they’re not sick,” said Serrano.
“The cost is another issue. Sometimes people are uninsured or can’t take time off work. A lot of it, too, is just lack of knowledge. People don’t know that they need these services. They don’t know that they need a mammogram every year after 40, or a colonoscopy after 50, or a pap test every three years after the age of 21. I hear a lot of that.”
Taking all of these concerns into consideration, CCARE forges inroads with these communities by meeting people where they are, bringing important cancer prevention and screening information directly to communities commonly left out of the health care discussion.
“I think out biggest strength is our community partnerships. We partner with churches, clinics, grassroots organizations, survivor advocates, support groups, schools. I’ve even been to people’s living rooms,” said Serrano.
“At CCARE, our first question is always what can we do for you? Not, what can you do for me? We’re offering them our services. It takes time to build these partnerships. Years, even.”
CCARE arranges community events with these partners, bringing in nurses, doctors and health educators to inform community members about cancer prevention, and sometimes even provide screening exams like mammograms to detect breast cancer or PSA tests to find prostate cancer. If exams are not being completed on site, team members are armed with information on where people can find low cost health care services.
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