AABCO: African American Breast Cancer Outreach


INCREASING AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN BREAST CANCER SCREENING SERVICES .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Community-Based Model for Enhancing African American Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening Outreach & Case Management Services
	PROJECT DIRECTOR Mary Lou Adams, PhD, RN, CS, FNP Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing Dr. Mary Lou Adams is an associate professor of clinical nursing at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. Her research focuses on the health promoting behaviors of women, particularly of minority women who often are part of underserved populations. As project director of a state-wide initiative funded by the Texas Cancer Council, she developed a community-based model for coordinated outreach and case management to encourage African American women's participation in early detection and follow-up services for breast cancer, the African American Breast Cancer Outreach. She is also the project coordinator for the School of Nursing’s Community Women’s Wellness Center which provides breast cancer screening services such as clinical breast exams, vouchers for free mammograms and pap smears, follow-up services and the teaching of breast self examination to women in the Austin/Travis County area.
AABCO, designed to increase the numbers of African American women screened for breast cancer in Texas, is the outgrowth of the collaborative efforts of two state agencies and a private foundation who saw a need - not enough African American women were being screened for breast cancer through the Texas Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP) - and sought to determine how the need could be met. “We knew we were not reaching the numbers of African American women” says Mary Lou Adams. Therefore, in 1998, she began a five-year campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of early detection. “Specifically, we wanted more African American women to get mammograms as a way to save lives and positively impact families and communities.”
AFRICAN AMERICAN BREAST CANCER OUTREACH (AABCO) PROJECT .................................................................................................................................................................................................. The African American Breast Cancer Outreach Project (AABCO) was developed in 1998 at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing with funding and support of the Texas Cancer Council (TCC), a state agency dedicated to reducing the human and economic impact of cancer on Texas through the promotion and support of collaborative, innovate, and effective programs and policies for cancer prevention and control. The primary purpose of AABCO has been to refine, implement and evaluate a culturally sensitive community-based model for coordinated outreach and case management to encourage African American women’s participation in early detection and follow-up services for breast cancer in three specific communities in Texas (Dallas, Houston and Tyler). AABCO, a five-year pilot with the first two years to three years as a period of refinement and development and years four and five as those of full implementation and evaluation, designed to increase the numbers of African American women screened for breast cancer in Texas, especially those that are poor and underserved. The AABCO project was developed from a model theorectically based in providing culturally competent care (AABCO Logic Model). The AABCO model illustrates the expected links between barriers to screening, project services and intended outcomes. The core components of the AABCO model are: (1) utilization of outreach coordinators; (2) development of site community and professional advisory committees; and (3) development of community coalitions to promote education and awareness within the specific communities. Guided by this culturally-sensitive logic model, evaluation focused on understanding how project activities contributed to AABCO's objectives and outcomes. According to the evaluation findings, AABCO's breast cancer screening message reached a large number of African American women, prompting them to seek breast cancer screening and contribute to future outreach efforts. During its 3-year full implementation phase, AABCO successfully facilitated mammography screenings for 8,459 African American women. In addition, more than 114,386 people received one or more direct services to include cancer related information, materials or prevention, risk assessment and/or screening services.
	LESSONS LEARNED A Guide to Enhance African American Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening Outreach and Case Management Services in Texas was developed in 2002 as an effective way to share the lessons learned through implemention of the five-year pilot project "Community-Based Model for Enhancing African American Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening Outreach and Case Management Services in Texas" (AABCO). This manual is useful to nurse practitioners, other health care professionals and the lay community who are interested in developing culturally relevant programs to help reduce the disparity in the early detection of breast cancer in African American women. To download a copy - click here! Suggested Reference: Adams ML, Becker HB, Guidry JJ, Robertson TR, Carrington CA & Monsho A. A Guide to Enhance African American Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening Outreach and Case Management Services: Austin, Texas: The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing; 2002.
AABCO Project funded by the Texas Cancer Council	CONTACT US For additional information about the project or to request a copy of the outreach manual write: African American Breast Cancer Outreach (AABCO) The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing 1700 Red River Street Austin, TX 78701-1499 Email: AABCO@mail.nur.utexas.edu
COLLABORATING PARTNERS: Texas Department of Health Breast & Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP) http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/bcccp Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (National and Affiliates in Dallas, Houston and Tyler) http://www.komen.org American Cancer Society (Texas Division and Units in Dallas, Houston and Tyler) http://www.cancer.org The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing http://www.utexas.edu/nursing