Hospitals in Action >> Case Examples

OVERLOOK HOSPITAL – Summit , New Jersey
Breast Health Outreach to Minority Women Program

What is it?
The Breast Health Outreach to Minority Women is a program that helps reduce racial and cultural disparities in the early detection of breast cancer through culturally sensitive outreach education with teen and adult women. Interactive discussions and educational materials are employed in a variety of settings, making it possible for outreach workers to reach more than 12,000 women a year. Patient navigator services guide these women through needed clinical breast examinations, mammography screening, and follow-up medical care. 

Who is it for?
African American, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific women living in the towns of Summit, Union, Vauxhall, Maplewood, Springfield, Westfield, Scotch Plains, and Fanwood, located in Union County, New Jersey.

Why do they do it?
In the past several years the minority group population has increased, underscoring the need to reduce health disparities for these women. The Breast Health Outreach to Minority Women program also strengthens existing relationships with community organizations and develops new partnerships with select high schools and community leaders. In addition, the program promotes a positive experience for minority women who enter the health care system by providing cultural sensitivity training with physicians, medical residents, and other health care personnel at Overlook Hospital.

Impact: This outreach education program has reached more than 24,000 women. The program has motivated women to perform their breast self-exams on a monthly basis, taught participants to have an annual physical check-up, and detected 552 women in need of mammograms.

Contact: Raul Cadavid
Health Educator
Telephone: 908-522-2844
E-mail: raul.cadavid@atlantichealth.org

Contact: Joyce Passen
Manager, Community Health Department
Telephone: 908-522-5355
E-mail: joyce.passen@atlantichealth.org