Promoting Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening among Hispanic and African American Women

The purpose of this research was to investigate factors that influence cancer screening among Hispanic and African American women. The Screening Older Minority Women (SOMW) project was designed to build on the social connections between women by teaching younger women (ages <50) to encourage and support women 50+ years to get breast and cervical cancer screening exams. The program was evaluated through the use of a twoarmed randomized trial. The intervention was theoretically grounded using the Health Belief and the Theory of Planned Behavior models. Results of the study focus on: 1) the effectiveness of a trans-generational intervention to encourage older (50 years and over) African-American and Hispanic women to obtain a screening exam; 2) the effectiveness of community outreach workers in recruiting and educating younger women about breast and cervical cancer screening; and 3) the impact of a social networking intervention on key theoretical constructs used to explain screening behavior.