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| Latanya Sam, office supervisor of The Rose Galleria |
Originally published on Click2Houston.com
The Rose Mobile Mammography Program serves an 11 county area. Obviously, they're willing to come to you – but will you be there when they arrive?
"We've always had a problem in the disadvantaged communities, particularly in the African American population, of people making a reservation or booking an appointment, but then not showing up," says The Rose Development Director Carol Wright. "Our no-show rate is extremely high."
For instance, during fiscal year 2009, more than 7,346 appointments were made for mobile mammograms. Slightly more than 1,970 women did not turn up, resulting in a no-show rate of more than 26 percent.
Comparably, at The Rose's southeast Houston location, the no-show rate was 9.82 percent.
And at the former Bissonnet Center – now The Rose Galleria on West Loop South, the no-show rate was higher than 18 percent.
“These rates are not acceptable”, says Latanya Sam, office supervisor of The Rose Galleria. Sam has the reputation for doing just about anything to get women to come in for their mammograms – especially African American women.
Case in point - Sam recently had a patient who arrived three hours late for her mammogram, because she had to wait until her daughter got off work to get a ride. Sam had to reschedule the patient's appointment, but it took two more attempts before the patient came in, even though Sam offered to do the driving herself.
Sam lives in Humble, the patient in Spring.
Sam even transports patients from Cleveland to Houston twice a month for mammograms.
Lack of transportation and lack of childcare are just two reasons African American women are not getting their mammograms, Sam says.
They're also afraid it will hurt, she says.It's not exactly fun to get a mammogram, Sam agrees, but it shouldn't hurt.
"I will ask them when they come out 'was it that bad?' They say 'no, no, no,'" Sam says.
Getting minority women to come in for a baseline mammogram is one thing, but getting them to follow up with yearly breast exams is another.
The African American culture is somewhat private and sensitive when it comes to their bodies and their health, says Sam, who is African American herself. And, just like the mobile mammography program, if you can't come to Sam, Sam will come to you.
"Education and building trust is key. Over the last few years, a lot of churches have requested The Rose come out and speak or come out and provide information," Sam says.
Sam says she's been able to touch two women that way – one who was 63-years-old and has never had a mammogram.
Wright says it's concerning when women call, say they have a lump, and then don’t keep their appointments. It's also incredibly dangerous. A delay in diagnosing cancer could mean a larger, more advanced cancer.
Early detection is the number one step to fighting breast cancer and Wright wants to get to the bottom of why no-shows are happening.
Now she can, thanks to a grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
The CPRIT grant is nearly $1 million over a two-year period, the largest grant The Rose has ever received.
"The purpose of the grant is to get more minority women into screening services as quickly as possible," says Wright.
The Rose will do this by using grant money to expand its Empower Her to Care program and its mobile mammography program.
Last year, The Rose served 27,450 women, of whom 8,117 were uninsured. Of the uninsured women, 57 percent were Hispanic, 15 percent were Asian and 12 percent were African American.
"If we can figure out the reasons why these women not coming in, then we can better address the obstacles," Wright says. "We want to show CPRIT that we can decrease the number of no-shows and increase the number of women we're serving."
Using the CPRIT grant, the objectives of Empower Her to Care are to increase first-time screening of both African American women and Hispanic women, decrease no-show rates and educate patients about their health.
Whatever it takes, The Rose is determined to reach minority women.
"It's so important," says Wright, "because an early diagnosis means a 98 percent survival rate."
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About The Rose:
For more information or to make an appointment, visit www.the-rose.org or call 866-680-4708
Insured and uninsured women are welcome.
The Rose Southeast, 12700 N. Featherwood, Suite 260, Houston, 77034
The Rose Galleria, 5420 West Loop South, Suite 3300, Bellaire, 77401
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