New Program to Bring Patient Navigators, Breast Cancer Screening and Education to South Texas Women

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Sandra Costilla, a patient navigator at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (right), accepted the $100,000 check for the new program from the Avon Foundation at its 12th Annual Walk for Breast Cancer. Costilla said: “Thank you Avon walkers and crew! Your donations will help support our Navegando Salud navigator program offering one-on-one counseling to 250 women in one of the highest risk zip codes in southern Texas, and will provide screening for thousands of women to get them into treatment faster. On behalf of all of those women, thank you.”

Minority women have low breast cancer screening rates.

Even if they are screened, they delay confirmatory diagnosis and treatment because of costs, cultural and language issues, competing responsibilities, and more.

That’s why Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is offering the Navegando Salud patient navigator program, which trains bilingual, bicultural community health workers to offer breast cancer screenings, education and other services to women in South Texas.

Navegando Salud just received a one-year, $100,000 grant from the Avon Foundation.

The grant was among 10 announced at the 12th Annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Houston on April 13, 2014.

“We’re honored to receive this grant, which will help us go a long way in generating the best breast care possible for women and their families,” said Ramirez, the Dielmann Chair in Health Disparities Research & Community Outreach and the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Endowed Chair in Cancer Health Care Disparities at the Health Science Center.

Patient navigation has proven to remove barriers to screening, promote timely diagnosis and treatment, and improve outcomes for medically underserved cancer patients, Ramirez said.

Navegando Salud aims to:

  • remove barriers to access to timely, high-quality breast cancer care;
  • facilitate seamless patient-centered, multi-disciplinary care delivery;
  • educate patients on the importance of early detection and treatment adherence; and
  • provide community outreach and education in high-need areas to promote cancer screening and healthy behaviors to reduce women’s breast cancer risk.

“Our navigators, Sandra Costilla and Armida Flores, will tailor their services to each patient’s needs to improve patients’ quality of life and satisfaction with the breast health care received during their cancer journey,” Ramirez said.

In addition to Navegando Salud, the Avon Foundation funded nine other projects across Texas.

Find out about all 10 grants here.

“Every grant moves us closer toward our goal of a world without breast cancer,” said Eloise Caggiano, a breast cancer survivor and program director of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

By The Numbers By The Numbers

25.1

percent

of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage

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