Eastern Michigan University Professor Tsu-Yin Wu knows
first-hand that setting up an appointment for a mammogram
can be difficult. Although fluent in English and familiar
with the health system, Wu struggled to find the right
person to help make an initial appointment when she needed
one.
Wu got her appointment and is now helping other Asian
American women, thanks to a $361,000 grant she received
from the National Cancer Institute/National Institute of
Health.
The two-year grant, EMU's first award of federal stimulus
funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
will help address the need for research assessing the tailored
communications to increase mammography screening among
Asian American women.
"Early detection truly helps make a significant impact
in survival rates," said Tsu-Yin Wu, associate professor
of nursing at EMU. "If detected early, the five-year survival
rate for breast cancer exceeds 96 percent. While Caucasian
women are screened at a rate of 75 percent, only about
50 percent of Asian Americans are screened for breast cancer."
"We need to find an innovative intervention to address
the critical gap in health disparities," said Wu, a recently
appointed member of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Asian Pacific
American Affairs Commission. "We need to tackle
multiple layers of issues to promote screening for this
underserved population, including language and cultural
barriers as well as misconceptions for Asian American women.
They (Asian American women) think that if they feel okay,
they do not need to be screened."
The screening disparities lead to some alarming statistics.
Asian women who have immigrated to the United States have
breast cancer incidence rates that are six times higher
than those for Asian women who remain in their native countries.
While breast cancer mortality rates have decreased for
Caucasian and Hispanic women from 1990 to 1995, mortality
rates rose for Asian and Pacific Islander women during
the same period.
Wu said her research would help determine an effective
way to improve mammography screening for Asian American
women, which could result in improved survival rates and
a decrease in mortality.
Wu said that, with computer-assisted technology and tailored
communication principles, this funded project aims to design
and test an individually tailored telephone-counseling
program. Each participant in the intervention group will
receive an individualized session that will be best suited
for her needs and address various barriers and misconceptions
for breast cancer screening. The ultimate goal is to find
a method that will reduce screening disparities and eventually
save more lives.
"We want to significantly increase survival rates
and bridge the gap between different groups of people," she
said.
