Cancer is expected to be the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. and Texas within a decade. Despite effective screening tests, 40% of breast cancer, 36% of cervical cancer, and 54% of colorectal cancer in Texas are detected at an advanced stage of disease, and Latinos typically suffer worse cancer outcomes.

Salud San Antonio!, a unique new project led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, will position four community health workers (promotoras) at four community health groups to deliver a cancer education/outreach program to increase screening rates and knowledge of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer among Latinas in 10 zip codes ...

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Cancer is expected to be the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. and Texas within a decade. Despite effective screening tests, 40% of breast cancer, 36% of cervical cancer, and 54% of colorectal cancer in Texas are detected at an advanced stage of disease, and Latinos typically suffer worse cancer outcomes.

Salud San Antonio!, a unique new project led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, will position four community health workers (promotoras) at four community health groups to deliver a cancer education/outreach program to increase screening rates and knowledge of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer among Latinas in 10 zip codes in San Antonio’s West and South sides. These zip codes are low-income, 82% Latino, and have been identified by local health officials as high-risk areas for health problems.

Promotoras will conduct community events and small group sessions to educate women on risk factors, screening tests, and early detection. Knowledge will be measured using surveys at events and after small group sessions. Promotoras will encourage “rarely or never screened” women to obtain a mammogram, Pap test, or blood stool test, and give them a list of clinics with no/low-cost services. Three weeks later, promotoras will call the women to see if they scheduled screening. Final screening status will be assessed three months after the small group session.

This study also is significant because it will pilot promotoras’ use of smartphones, an innovative tool to facilitate communication, survey programming and data collection. Smartphones provide wireless access to e-mail, Internet, calendars, global positioning systems – thus becoming a mobile computer. If Salud San Antonio! is successful in increasing knowledge and screening behavior, this model can be exported to other high-risk populations in South Texas and other largely Latinos areas.

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