A community-academic partnership to plan and implement an evidence-based lay health advisor program for promoting breast cancer screening

J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2012 May;23(2 Suppl):109-20. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2012.0076.

Abstract

Despite a growing body of evidence concerning effective approaches to increasing breast cancer screening, the gap between research and practice continues. The North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program (NC-BCSP) is an example of an evidence-based intervention that uses trained lay health advisors (LHA) to promote breast cancer screening. Partnerships that link academic researchers knowledgeable about specific evidence-based programs with community-based practitioners offer a model for increasing their use. This article describes a partnership between CrossWorks, Inc., a community-based organization, and the UNC-CH Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in planning and implementing an evidence-based program for promoting breast cancer screening among older African American women in rural eastern North Carolina communities. We used in-depth interviews to explore the relationship of the partnership to the activities that were undertaken to launch the evidence-based program.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data*
  • Breast Neoplasms / ethnology*
  • Breast Neoplasms / prevention & control
  • Community Health Services / organization & administration*
  • Community Health Workers*
  • Community-Institutional Relations*
  • Early Detection of Cancer / statistics & numerical data*
  • Evidence-Based Practice
  • Female
  • Health Plan Implementation / methods
  • Health Promotion / methods*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • North Carolina
  • Program Evaluation
  • Qualitative Research
  • Rural Health