Eastern Carolina Agencies Lead LHAs after NC-BCSP Study Ends                                                                     Back to Article List

From start to finish, helping people stay healthy has been the goal of the North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program. With strong ties to several eastern North Carolina communities, NC-BCSP has never confined its mission to a set of research aims. The research project has been occupied with the important job of translating scientific knowledge into practical recommendations and feasible programs that can bring lasting health benefits, especially to rural African American women.

As an important part of its study, NC-BCSP has recruited and trained more than 200 LHAs in Beaufort, Bertie, Martin, Washington and Tyrrell Counties. These LHAs have helped African American women become better informed about breast and cervical cancer and more involved in seeking appropriate screening. LHA-led outreach and education have paved the way to earlier cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment in these counties.

Local leaders have applauded the LHAs' success in increasing breast cancer screening rates. Positive results from the LHA initiative have also prompted others to start similar programs elsewhere. Today countless independent LHA groups are active across the U.S. addressing a broad range of health issues. Lay health advising has become recognized as one of the most effective and culturally-appropriate strategies for increasing access to health care and promoting new health behaviors in communities that have not received adequate care in the past.

NC-BCSP's ten-year study of LHAs' effectiveness for increasing mammography use among rural African American women ended March 31, 2003. Most of the LHAs have decided to carry on the mission of NC-BCSP under the leadership of new organizations. Several lay health advisor groups that originated as part of the NC-BCSP study are now being administered by two agencies in eastern North Carolina. Albemarle Regional Health Services, a district health department, has embraced NC-BCSP's lay health advisors in Bertie County. Martin and Washington County lay health advisors will be led by New Life Women's Leadership Project, a private non-profit agency dedicated to helping low-income, rural Black women gain more clout to shape health and economic policies in North Carolina.

At both agencies, the LHA program is expected be a comfortable fit with community outreach and education programs that are already in place and aimed at eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health. Albemarle Regional Health Services has appointed two health educators, Tashara James and LaKeisha Johnson, to lead the Bertie County LHAs starting April 1, 2003. To help them prepare for their new responsibilities, the two health educators worked closely with NC-BCSP Community Outreach Specialists Lucille Bazemore and Survilla Cherry during the last several months of NC-BCSP. Ms. Bazemore says, "I've been observing these two new coordinators almost all year, and I am confident that they have a whole lot to give us. All of us are looking forward to working with them. This program will be in good hands."

New Life Women's Leadership Project is in the process of recruiting and training staff to coordinate the LHA groups based in Martin and Washington Counties. Eva Butler Hill, NC-BCSP's Community Outreach Specialist for Martin and Washington Counties from 1993-2003, serves on the New Life board of directors. Ms. Hill will meet routinely with New Life staff to ensure that the LHA program transfers smoothly from UNC to New Life. Ceremonies celebrating the LHA program's move from the university to New Life Women's Leadership were held on February 13th and 14th in Washington and Martin Counties. The Bertie County LHAs celebrated their transition to Albemarle Regional Health Services on March 13th.

In Tyrrell County, the most rural of NC-BCSP's 5 counties, a small group of 6 LHAs held their last meeting in December 2002. Beaufort County LHAs met, perhaps for the last time, on March 8th to honor their nine years of community service as part of NC-BCSP. Barbara Paul, Adult Health Coordinator of the Beaufort County Health Department, Mary Mattheis, American Cancer Society Community Cancer Control Manager, and Susan Chase, Family and Consumer Specialist at the Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, also attended the meeting. They each pledged support for the Beaufort LHAs and committed to continuing to involve individual LHAs in volunteer opportunities through their agencies.

Speaking about how the NC-BCSP staff and volunteers felt about the end of NC-BCSP, Project Manager Alexis Moore said, "Any ending is difficult to confront, and we will all miss the surprisingly large and positive role that NC-BCSP has played in our lives. However, we also realize that the end of this project is also a reason to celebrate. We have demonstrated that community partnership interventions can help improve the health of rural African American women. But, best of all, the LHA program is being sustained and is already heading down promising new paths."

In Bertie, Martin and Washington Counties LHAs have formed new alliances with outstanding local agencies. They are working together to designate and carry out new program aims for promoting health. For UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, NC-BCSP has come to represent the direct translation of research into public service for North Carolina residents. Support for this type of service to North Carolina communities has always been valued by Lineberger and is likely to receive increased emphasis. Lineberger and the UNC School of Public Health will continue to provide technical support and training as needed to the LHA programs that are now based at Albemarle Regional Health Services and New Life Women's Leadership Project.