Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women in Texas. Women living in West Texas often fail to receive the necessary mammography and other screening services due to barriers such as finances, geography, and means to travel to screening locations. Additionally, Hispanic, rural, and other medically underserved women in West Texas experience a higher incidence of advanced breast cancers.

In June 2010, the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center with two campus affiliates of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health (LWBIWH) in Amarillo and Lubbock, received a CPRIT grant to develop and implement the “Access to Breast Care for West Texas” (ABC4WT) project. The ABC4WT...

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Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women in Texas. Women living in West Texas often fail to receive the necessary mammography and other screening services due to barriers such as finances, geography, and means to travel to screening locations. Additionally, Hispanic, rural, and other medically underserved women in West Texas experience a higher incidence of advanced breast cancers.

In June 2010, the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center with two campus affiliates of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health (LWBIWH) in Amarillo and Lubbock, received a CPRIT grant to develop and implement the “Access to Breast Care for West Texas” (ABC4WT) project. The ABC4WT project aimed to increase breast cancer screening rates and preventive care in underserved populations of West Texas (Public Health Region 1) by “closing the gap” between screening, diagnosis and treatment by helping women navigate the healthcare system to access breast screening and diagnostic services.

With the support of our Amarillo and Lubbock ABC4WT project colleagues, Angelo State University, a member of the Texas Tech System, is proposing to expand this successful project to West Texas Public Health Region 9 (PHR 9) beginning with a 14-county area known as the Concho Valley (CV). The population that will be targeted and served by the project is largely Hispanic, underserved in terms of access of health care, and in many cases, significantly rural.

We will develop strategies to increase breast cancer screening which will include the targeted, culturally–specific, and community-based public awareness campaign generously offered for our use by our Amarillo and Lubbock LWBIWH colleagues. To enhance access to screening, we will use a combination of techniques to increase screening in rural and ethnically diverse populations which includes an already established call center, reduced cost or free mammograms, and free transportation to screening facilities. The two major medical centers in San Angelo, San Angelo Community Medical Center and Shannon Medical Center have enthusiastically agreed to serve as the major hospital partners for the ABC4WT-CV project and Sonora’s Lillian Hudspeth Hospital and Brady Regional Hospital will serve as “referring” hospitals.

In addition, we will use individual directed techniques such as: the use of community health workers to educate communities, a patient navigator system, call in center, and individual patient counseling. Finally, ABC4WT-CV will also raise awareness of breast health including screening information for women living in PHR 9, through breast cancer prevention resources and a public awareness campaign stressing the importance of breast cancer screening for women in our region.

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