Educating Young Black Women about Breast Cancer Risk with Web-based Tools

African American women continue to be disproportionately affected by breast cancer due to late diagnoses, higher mortality rates than Caucasian women and higher incidence before the age of 40. CEHS researchers Drs. Melissa Troester and Liza Makowski are lead investigators of the UNC Chapel Hill Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (UNC BCERP), studying  how environmental factors affect an aggressive type of breast cancer, basal-like breast cancer, in African American women younger than 50. The CEHS Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) serves as the UNC BCERP Community Partner and works with Troester and Makowski to incorporate emerging science into its breast cancer outreach materials and activities.

The BCERP staff is collaborating with associate professor Brad Hemminger, PhD, and his graduate students in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science (SILS) to develop, pilot test and disseminate an interactive website that will inform women about basal-like breast cancer risks.  The site will also be used to educate health professionals and will feature information on breast cancer risk factors, a mechanism for users to assess personal risk factors, and videos of young black breast cancer survivors, loved ones who changed behavior, and physicians. The team is incorporating built-in analytics to make sure the site is effective and meeting the information needs of its users.

“In focus groups we conducted with young black women, we were hearing that they didn’t feel represented in breast cancer awareness campaigns – that breast cancer is a ‘white woman’s disease,’” states COEC manager Neasha Graves. “After learning of this perception, we sought ways to develop a convenient source of information for young black women that demonstrates cultural relevance, featuring black women and providing information directly relevant to them. What’s more – users will be encouraged to share this resource with their family and friends.”

The site is currently in development, in final stages of pilot testing with users, and will be launched in fall 2014.