This clinical trial tests how well the Women's Engagement for Cancer Awareness, Resources, and Education (WE-CARE) community health forums work to increase breast cancer screening and clinical trial participation for rural and low income women. Despite advances in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in the past decade, rural-dwelling and underserved women, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color continue to experience low rates of breast cancer screening. Since the survival rate for breast cancer is largely dependent on stage at which it is diagnosed, later stage breast cancer is correlated to a poorer prognosis and higher mortality rate. The WE-CARE community health forms address structural barriers through culturally tailored educational sessions on breast cancer risk, screening and clinical trials, survivor storytelling to humanize cancer and research and patient navigation to facilitate mammogram screening and address barriers. The WE-CARE community health forums may be an effective way to increase breast cancer screening and clinical trial participation for rural and low income women.
Female
Be between the ages of 50 and 74 years
Have no prior history of breast cancer screening (i.e., who have either never received a mammogram or have not had one in the past five years)
Reside in a rural community in Wisconsin or belong to low income (self-reported)
Women who have received a mammogram within the past five years
Have a current or prior diagnosis of breast cancer
Are currently undergoing treatment for any active malignancy
Have cognitive or psychiatric impairments that, in the judgment of the study team, would preclude meaningful participation
Single group
Educational Intervention
Other interventionAttend education sessions at WE-CARE forum
Patient Navigation
BehavioralReceive navigation support
Supportive Care
Other interventionAttend storytelling sessions at WE-CARE forum
Recruitment yield
Assessed via the number enrolled divided by the number of eligible participants approached.
Exposure reach (community level reach)
Assessed by the number of attendees divided by the estimated number of population indirectly exposed (e.g., via flyers, social media, community announcements).
Retention
Assessed by the number of participants who complete 3-month follow-up.
Perceived participant satisfaction
Success is defined as ≥ 75% of participants rating the experience ≥ 4 on a 5-point scale rated on a 5-point scale where 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree. Higher scores indicate greater perceived satisfaction.
Change in breast cancer screening intention
Assessed using the Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale (RBDS), which consists of 12 items each rated on a 7-point scale where 1=strongly disagree and 7=strongly agree. Higher scores reflect greater intention to engage in screening behavior.
Chang in breast cancer screening behavior
For participants who have never had a mammogram, a follow-up question at six months post-forum will document self-reported mammography completion. Verification will be optional and used only to evaluate feasibility of data collection. Results will be analyzed descriptively.
Perceived trust in medical researchers
Will be assessed using the Trust in Medical Researchers Scale, which consists of 4 items each rated on a 5-point scale where 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree. higher scores indicating greater perceived trust. Results will be analyzed descriptively.
Change in perceived research readiness
Indicators of research interest will be assessed using descriptively based on subsequent participant enrollment in observational research.
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