Health Research & Educational Trust of New Jersey (HRET)
Research
Ongoing Projects - Breast Cancer Awareness
Project OverviewBreast Cancer is on the rise in New Jersey. An estimated 7,970 new cases of breast cancer are expected among New Jersey women in 2004, and an estimated 1,480 women will die from the disease this year. The number of breast cancer cases in our state increased 23 percent between 1994 and 1999. Today, the Garden State has one of the highest breast cancer rates in the country, with one of every 10 New Jersey women developing breast cancer in her lifetime.
Prevention and early detection have been identified as the most significant efforts to combat the high mortality of breast cancer. Mammography, the single most effective method of early detection, is vastly underutilized, especially among individuals with the highest mortality rates: minorities, older women and those with lower socioeconomic status. Besides consumer-related factors (transportation, costs, language barrier, perception of risk, etc.), a major barrier to screening is lack of physician encouragement or referral.
The Breast Cancer Awareness project is designed to reach and educate the providers and community-based organizations serving these women in order to encourage more screening, provide more referrals and facilitate greater utilization, especially among underserved and high-risk populations. The ultimate goal is to increase access to early detection services.
In particular, to assist providers with this call to action, HRET surveyed every mammography facility in New Jersey and published
Early Detection Saves Lives: A Guide to Breast Cancer Screening Services in New Jersey (an updated and expanded version of its 1995 publication). Included in the guide are:
- General information about breast cancer, its risk factors, detection, treatment and other services;
- A comprehensive directory of all certified mammography sites in New Jersey, including information on their free or reduced-cost screening, evening or weekend hours, insurance accepted, education and support services, transportation assistance and accessibility for women with disabilities;
- Contact information for state and local agencies that provide other cancer and health-related services; and,
- Links to resources with additional information about breast cancer.
The resource guide is currently available in the statewide and online formats and will soon be available in Spanish and in county-specific formats.
Implementation of this project's first year activities was supported by a special legislative appropriation (P.L. 2001, CHAPTER 197) and a grant from the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), as well as contributions from the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Hoffman-LaRoche Foundation.
Publications