West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center: Winner of Susan G. Komen Foundation Grants
West Bay Pilipino Multi Service, Inc. is pleased to announce three award winning grants from the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness and the Hellman Family Foundation; for the development of culturally appropriate and sustainable breast cancer support services.
Grant #1. Filipina Breast Cancer Disparities - What model is meaningful? An ethnographic research into social support and social capital within the Filipino Community.
Grant #2. Cancer Awareness Training - A study to assess a current West Bay breast cancer program to identify pre - existing channels for the provision of support within the community and to develop culturally resonant breast cancer education.
Grant #3.Comparative Study - How support group may be culturally tailored to meet the needs of Filipina breast cancer survivors and what other groups are doing that might improve or augment West Bay’s current program.
Background: Filipino American women suffer a disproportionate burden of cancer than women of other Asian subgroups. The Filipino population in the US is large, second among Asians only to the Chinese. Breast cancer among Filipinas is a major cancer disparity. Despite this, resources for and research for Filipinas with breast cancer are almost non existent. In 2004, West Bay Pilipino Multi Service, Inc joined with the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center and the San Francisco General Breast Care Program to start the first Filipina breast cancer support group in San Francisco. It was called Sinag Tala. ( Bright Star) However, a Medicare scandal perpetrated against the Filipino community by several unscrupulous physicians made it difficult to keep women coming to the Center. The little research available on Filipino Americans suggests that support services need to be tailored to the social and cultural values, beliefs and norms of the Filipino community. The three grants to West Bay seek to illuminate meanings of survivorship and breast cancer support in the Filipino American community, and how to design culturally appropriate support services building upon existing community resources. ( social networks) In addition, through these three grants, we seek to increase the capacity of West Bay, an organization based in and trusted by the Filipino community since we are best positioned to reduce the breast cancer burden in our community. Like you, I believe the development and delivery of culturally appropriate and resonant support services is likely to increase breast cancer awareness and improve the quality of life of Filipina breast cancer survivors.
In this connection, it is hereby specifically requested for Fil-Ams to help accomplish the following:
A. Help with the recruitments of participants
B. Coordinate Incorporation of a Sinag Tala Advisory Committee
C. Attend community meetings to discuss preliminary findings and potential future plans
Yours sincerely,
Rudy Asercion
Executive Director
West Bay Pilipino Multi Service, Inc.
175 7th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Tel: 415 431 6266
Fax: 415 252 8758
Email: WestBayCenter@gmail.com
During the months of July and August of 2007, West Bay allocated initial expenditures of $1000 to inform the Filipino community and designed a media campaign that delivered messages about the importance of early detection and cancer screening among the Filipino community. A grass root collaborative (between West Bay and FCCC) conducted a needs assessment to identify 1) preferred and common methods of communicating health information and 2) belief systems specific to the Filipino community that might serve as barriers or facilitators to improved cancer screening and prevention behavior.
To date, 68 surveys were administered. Sinag Tala Advisory Council members led the development of the survey instrument, and volunteers were trained to help community members complete the survey. A total of 68 Filipinos (42 women, 26 men) from various cities in the San Francisco Bay Area participated in the survey. A second phase of data collection will be implemented in the Fall of 2007 to achieve a larger sample size. The Sinag Tala Advisory Council will be responsible for managing and analyzing the data. West Bay Pilipino Multi Service will use findings in the development of a mass media campaign aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer screening among the Filipino San Francisco Bay Area community.
Active organizations participating in Sinag Tala as Adcisory Council include the Filipino Community Cancer Collaborative (FCCC), American Cancer Society, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, Cancer Detection Program: Every Woman Counts, University of California, San Francisco, Cancer Information Service (CIS) Stanford University and Seton Hospital.
Comment by West Bay Pilipino Multi Service Center — September 6, 2007 @ 1:17 pm