A Culturally Tailored Outreach Program to Improve Cancer Screening in the Asian Indian Population

The South Asian-American population is steadily growing in the United States; however, the cancer screening rate is lower in this population as compared to the Caucasians and other ethnicities. The primary purpose of this project was to explore evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions to spread awareness and increase participation in a breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening program among South Asian Indian (SAI) women. Barriers and facilitators of cancer screening in this population identified through extensive literature research. Utilizing the knowledge gained from the literature and the ACE Star Evidence-Based Practice model, this project lead by an advanced practice nurse student as part of her Capstone, as well as whom completed clinical practicum hours at the clinic site, offered a culturally tailored community-based education program, presented in Gujarati and Hindi, to support the a cancer screening clinic. The clinic continues to be held once a month at a suburban satellite location of a major Southern New Jersey Cancer Center in collaboration with National Indio Cooperative Enterprises, Inc. (NICE), a non-profit organization dedicated to service of the Indian community in New Jersey. Established in 2007, this program provides cancer education and early detection to Asian-Indian (Hindu) women rarely or never screened through the use of a dedicated SAI outreach worker and nationally certified advanced oncology nurse practitioner.

A detail description of the project including planning to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate cancer education and screening, site selection, stakeholders, implementation strategies, and services offered following the American Cancer Society recommended guidelines that support this individualized and community approach will be shared. Outcomes to date are positive in that an increase in SAI women have participated in the educational component of the project and yielded new and established scheduled visits for cancer screening services that will foster support for the sustainability and viability of the program research.