The American Cancer Society is the recipient of a grant from The Walmart Foundation to support community health advisor outreach programs in select cities across the country including Detroit.  The grant will provide $30,000 for the Promotoras de Salud program to increase awareness among Hispanics in metro Detroit about breast cancer prevention.

The Great Lakes Division (GLD) of the American Cancer Society, the Mexican Consulate in Detroit and 14 other collaborative partners, including health clinics, faith-based organizations and schools, will identify and train 15 culturally competent health educators on the Promotoras de Salud model.

Promotoras de Salud volunteers will provide leadership, health education and referrals for screening opportunities to over 400 women in Southwest Detroit.  The volunteers will be vital to increasing breast cancer awareness, promoting behavior change, and empowering and promoting healthy habits.  In addition to information dissemination, the GLD, the Mexican Consulate, and other collaborative partners will establish a system where women will be given a referral to the Breast Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP) or other sources of free or fee-reduced programs to receive screening opportunities within the Southwest Detroit.

In addition, 28 other communities across the country will each benefit from $30,000 grants to support existing community health programs; and three communities will each receive $300,000 to increase access to breast cancer screening for African-American women through trained community health advisors.

In total, the program will provide over $1.7 million in cancer prevention funding throughout the U.S.

“We are honored to be selected by Walmart for Promotoras de Salud funding,” said Mitzi Cardona.  “This initiative will allow for better education, information dissemination and will enable us to save countless lives as we strive to spread the message that early detection is imperative to better survival outcomes.”

According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts and Figures (2011), disparities predominantly arise from inequities in work, wealth, income, education, housing, and overall standard of living, as well as social barriers to high-quality cancer prevention, early detection and treatment services.  Additionally, persons with lower socioeconomic status are more likely to engage in behaviors that increase cancer risk such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, and poor diet due to environmental or community barriers to opportunities for physical activity and access to fruits and vegetables.