COMMUNITY CLINIC OPENS COMPREHENSIVE BREAST CARE CENTER WITH KOMAN FOUNDATION GRANT

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Bob Davis, a doctoral student of health sciences at the University of Arkansas and a family nurse practitioner, has been named director of a new health center that will offer services and information about breast care to uninsured and low-income women in Northwest Arkansas.

Funded by a $137,000 grant from the Koman Foundation, the "AWARE" center will be established at the Community Clinic of Springdale. It will provide education in breast self-care, links to mammography, other diagnostic services and surgery, emotional support, and Tamoxifenâ for low-income clients.

In addition to serving women in the Northwest Arkansas community, the AWARE center will also provide clinical experience and research opportunities for UA faculty and students. Lori Turner, assistant professor of health sciences, will act as liaison with the University, coordinating internships with graduate students and providing research support for the program.

"We want to make breast care a cornerstone of the service we provide by creating a community center of excellence for breast care and education." Davis said. "We have the opportunity to dramatically affect the uninsured women if we make breast education and care a staple of the treatment received at our clinic."

This effort represents one mission of the Community Clinic - to reach out to women who fall through the economic cracks of the healthcare system by providing community-based health interventions. The clinic aims to help the uninsured and working poor women of Northwest Arkansas overcome the financial, cultural, and language barriers that keep them from receiving breast cancer education and treatment.

The goal of the clinic is to reduce the impact of breast cancer on the uninsured and working poor women of Northwest Arkansas by providing a continuum of breast cancer care through screening, education, service linkages and annual physicals.

According to Davis, women living in rural settings are less likely to receive breast cancer screenings and follow-up care after abnormal mammography findings. Likewise, low income and uninsured women are more likely to come into the medical system with advanced stages of breast cancer and therefore require more expensive treatment. As a result, mortality is higher.

Over 15,000 women in Benton and Washington Counties do not have health insurance or access to regular preventative medical care, Davis said. In the past twelve months the Community Clinic has treated 1,244 women between the ages of 20 and 64. "Many women choose not to even attend free screenings, believing they do not have the financial means to obtain treatment if they are diagnosed with breast cancer," he added.

Another growing barrier to breast care for women in Northwest Arkansas is culture and language. Hispanics represent the largest minority group in Northwest Arkansas and comprise 25 percent of the Community Clinic’s clientele.

Hispanic women receive fewer mammograms and clinical breast exams, as well as less instruction in self-breast examination. They face several barriers including language, transportation and cultural differences that make finding health care difficult. Many of these women come from countries where medical technology does not exist for the poor and, as a result, regular and routine diagnostic procedures such as mammograms are unfamiliar.

"Today the Community Clinic’s impact on women’s health is reactive rather than proactive," Davis explained. "The uninsured and low-income residents need a community-based outreach program that is focused on and toward their population. The real difference will be made when women are educated on their breast care choices and are not forced to make life and death decisions based on the misperception that they have no treatment options."

The goals of the "AWARE" program are to:

• Increase the breast care knowledge among area women by providing verbal instruction and written materials.
• Increase the number of uninsured women who receive clinical breast exams.
• Arrange ultrasound and biopsy assistance following clinical screenings.
• Increase the number of Hispanic women who are educated in breast self-care.
• Provide financial assistance to women who do not qualify for existing breast care subsidy programs.
• Provide financial assistance with mastectomy/lumpectomy for uninsured women.
• Provide referrals to surgeons for women who do not have access to a primary care physician due to financial barriers.
• Provide prescription assistance for Tamoxifen.
• Work with the Cancer support home to direct patients to resources for emotional and psychological support during and after breast cancer treatment.

The Community Clinic also provides health science, psychology, and nursing students a practical training ground to put the counseling, technical, and educational skills into action in a supervised setting.

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