Reaching out to the communtiy in a meaningful way begins with education about healthcare issues. This is especially true of cancer prevention and control. Understanding risks and recognizing the importance of screening and early detection are empowering to community members.

A secondary but no less important component is patient navigation. Misunderstandings and fear of the unknown prevent many patients from health screenings and treatment. Guiding patients through each step alleviates many fears and anxieties about managing their disease, and insures adherence to and completion of prescribed treatment.

There is some concern over differences in the quality of screening received by different races. The poor tend to rely heavily on mobile vans and other methods that do not correlate clinical breast exams with mammograms. For this reason, the utilization of proven screening methodologies and high quality treatments will be encouraged. Using survey methodology, we will also measure the effectiveness of the Outreach Core to explain clearly the potential risks and benefits of various treatment options.

Dr. Erica Brownfield recently completed the initial research component of the GCHE Outreach program through her project titled, "Increasing Women's Health Literacy of Screening Mammography Using a Multimedia Program." As information is entered into our database, Dr. Brownfield will analyze the outcomes. A paper on this research will be submitted to national meetings.

GCHE indirectly supports community education and patient navigation programs. Community health advocates average over 15 events per month as they travel to health fairs and meet with sororities, with an attendance that ranges from 30 - 100 individuals. Logging in more than 175 hours per month, patient navigators have literally hand-held patients through their procedures, following up with reminder calls and serving as a resource to both patients and their families.