Black Breast Cancer Health Intervention Program
Principal Investigator: Kemi Babagbemi, MD, FARC
Even though overall death rates from breast cancer in the United States dropped 40% between 1989 and 2017, the breast cancer death rate in Black and African American women remains 40% higher than that in White and European women. As such, new strategies and approaches are needed to promote breast cancer prevention, improve survival rates, reduce breast cancer mortality, and improve the health outcomes of historically undeserved groups. As Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Columbia University Irving Medical Center delivers enhanced patient care using technologies and innovation, it is critical that the advancement and scalability of clinical services address the needs of historically underserved and marginalized communities, especially Black and African American women. The long-term objective of our work is to increase uptake of imaging screening and genetic testing to reduce disparate breast cancer outcomes. This project is the first step in examining a multi-component intervention to increase imaging screening and genetic testing among high-risk populations. The specific aims of this project are to: integrate pragmatic interventions into the clinical workflow and health care delivery practices in a controlled manner that provides clear information on the access to care for historically underserved and marginalized patient populations; develop physician-focused interventions to improve knowledge and change behavior towards guideline-based decision in inherited breast cancer care for historically underserved and marginalized patient populations; develop culturally and linguistically appropriate patient interventions that enhance access to multifaceted health information and provide tools that help in medical decision making for historically underserved and marginalized patient populations.