Cancer Screening One Resident at a Time
COBTH Home ---------------- Introduction ---------------- Resouces ---------------- Public Health Champion ---------------- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ---------------- Boston Medical Center ---------------- Brigham and Women's Hospital ---------------- Cambridge Health Alliance ---------------- Caritas Carney Hospital ---------------- Caritas Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center ---------------- Children's Hospital Boston ---------------- Dana-Farber Cancer-Institute ---------------- Faulkner Hospital ---------------- Lahey Clinic Medical Center ---------------- Massachusetts General Hospital ---------------- Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary ---------------- Tufts Medical Center ---------------- VA Boston Healthcare System ---------------- COBTH Community Benefits Committee ---------------- COBTH Hospital Cancer Rides ---------------- COBTH Domestic Violence Council		Pauline Sheridan of Roxbury knew she was at higher risk for developing colon cancer, but she was afraid to be tested. She’d heard the procedure would be uncomfortable. But with the encouragement of staff from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, she had a colonoscopy, and “It wasn’t that bad, and everything turned out well,” the 75-year-old says. Now, Sheridan is urging others at the Madison Park housing development where she lives to get tested for colorectal cancer. She’s doing so as a peer leader for “Open Doors to Health,” a research program aimed at raising awareness of this disease in diverse, medically underserved communities. Carried out by Dana-Farber, the federally funded project involves training individuals like Sheridan at 12 area housing sites to share information about colorectal cancer with fellow residents. It also offers activities and resources to help residents get tested and to lower their risk by exercising regularly and eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Health fairs, posters, walking clubs, aerobics classes, door-to-door outreach, and other tools are used. The program is especially critical because colorectal cancer often can be prevented and even cured when detected early. Regular screening can help find growths, called polyps, and remove them before they turn into cancer – and also find colorectal cancer early.
		Since it launched in May 2004 with Dana-Farber’s Karen Emmons, PhD, as the principal
		investigator, Open Doors to Health has served more than 1,600 people, and the Institute hopes to expand the program to other housing sites as part of a broader effort around colorectal cancer education. Sheridan says the Open Doors activities at Madison Park have been very successful, in part because the peer leaders have established trust with their fellow residents. As an added benefit, “I think it brings the community together.” This year, nearly 150,000 men and women in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with cancer of the colon and rectum, and nearly 50,000 people will die from it, according to the American Cancer Society. Colorectal cancer incidence rates among African American men and women are about 17 percent higher than in white men and women and colorectal cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in both Hispanic/Latino men and women.