Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is breast cancer awareness month, a time to promote awareness of the impacts of breast cancer and, for those of us in public health, to promote the importance of prevention. Women who get screened for breast cancer as recommended have a much lower chance of death by breast cancer than women who do not.
At the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, we have a number of programs that focus on breast cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. You can learn more about our efforts below.
Cancer Control Outreach Program (Outreach Program)
The Outreach Program is a core project of the Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research between The University of Puerto Rico and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with the collaboration of UTHealth. Since 2006, this NIH-funded program has worked on identifying health disparities that affect Latinos in Puerto Rico and Texas. Through research, the Outreach Program has developed culturally specific, bilingual educational programs that address cancer disparities and educate and guide our communities with the best evidence-based strategies for cancer prevention.
To learn more about their educational programs, visit the Outreach Program webpage and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. For more information, contact Ileska Valencia at [email protected].
Creating Healthy Actions Today (CHAT)
Creating Healthy Actions Today (CHAT) is a smartphone-based program to promote healthy eating and physical activity among African American breast cancer survivors.
The primary aim is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness (relative to an assessment-only control group) of a smartphone intervention designed to improve diet and increase physical activity through education, self-monitoring, and prompting among African American breast cancer survivors.
Read our recent feature on CHAT for more information.
Salud en Mis Manos
Salud en Mis Manos (SEMM) is a UTHealth CPRIT-funded program that seeks to provide medically underserved Latinas with the motivation, information and tools to complete their breast and cervical cancer screenings and HPV vaccinations.
Since 2020, SEMM has helped Latinas complete close to 5,000 breast and cervical cancer screenings and/or HPV vaccinations.
To schedule an education session, visit the SEMM webpage. For more information, contact Emily Adlparvar at [email protected] or 712-500-9608.
For more information about SEMM, read our featured article.
.JPG?language_id=1) |
.jpg?language_id=1) |
.jpg?language_id=1) |
.jpg?language_id=1) |
.jpg?language_id=1) |
 |
Salud en Mis Manos – Dissemination and Implementation Assistance (SEMM-DIA)
Salud en Mis Manos – Dissemination and Implementation Assistance (SEMM-DIA) is an exciting new program, an online implementation support system that includes a set of implementation strategies to facilitate the implementation and maintenance of the Salud en Mis Manos (SEMM) program, an evidence-based, CHW-delivered program used to increase breast and cervical cancer screening & HPV vaccination among Latina women, in health centers.
HPV vaccinations, as they relate to SEMM-DIA, are focused on catch-up recommendations. Women 18-26 who have not received the HPV vaccine are recommended to initiate and complete the HPV series. Three doses of HPV vaccine are recommended for young adults.
• The recommended three-dose schedule is 0, 1–2 and 6 months.
CHPPR Director Dr. Maria E. Fernández and her research team are currently working with healthcare clinics across Texas to test SEMM-DIA as part of the UTHealth Houston CDC-funded Prevention Research Center (PRC) Core Research Project.
Healthcare clinics work every day to improve breast and cervical cancer screening rates among their patient populations; your work is vital. During National Immunization Month and every day, it is our sincere hope that health systems recognize the value in our PRC resources, such as SEMM-DIA. The ongoing testing of SEMM-DIA will provide healthcare clinics with the skills and resources necessary to reach your patients and improve breast and cervical cancer screening & HPV vaccination rates in your clinic systems.
If you and your clinic's leadership team would like to receive updates on SEMM-DIA, please get in touch with: Project Coordinator, Angelita Alaniz, MPH ([email protected]), and Clinic Relationships Manager, Damita Hines ([email protected]). CHPPR would like to sincerely thank you and your health system for providing breast and cervical cancer screening & HPV vaccination services to women in Texas.
To learn more about recommendations for catch-up HPV vaccinations, click here.