Our Community Need

Every two years, the North Central Alabama Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure conducts an in-depth community assessment designed to help us better understand the reality of breast cancer in Alabama and the community’s knowledge, attitudes and behavior towards breast cancer. The assessment includes:

The 2011 Breast Health Community Assessment, completed in collaboration with the Women’s Breast Health Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, will aid in identifying program and service gaps, as well as, needs and barriers that exist in services and programs for breast cancer survivors and their families and loved ones. This information helps pinpoint where efforts will have the most impact, to ensure the most effective and targeted use of organization resources.

Several general conclusions can be drawn from the 2011 community assessment:

• There is a lack of insurance and/or finances for adequate breast health services, creating a significant and far-reaching barrier that affects all aspects of the continuum of care (Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment and Follow-up) for women in our area.
• Education and awareness efforts, regarding both basic breast health, screening and survivorship/quality of life issues, need to be increased and made readily available to those in need.
• Availability of services necessary throughout the continuum of care needs be broadened, such as survivorship services and programs for both breast cancer patients and their families.

To address these areas of need, the North Central Alabama Affiliate has identified the following priorities that will guide our breast health education efforts and grant-making decisions through our Community Grants Program over the next two years.

• Strengthen and build the capacity of community breast health providers and grantees such as the Alabama Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (ABCCEDP), targeting areas with the greatest lack of providers/services.
• Increase and improve breast health awareness and screening promotion efforts among all underserved women, especially African American women, throughout the region, with particular attention to the SWC counties (Sumter, Greene, Hale and Perry).
• Increase availability and awareness of programs and services that address survivorship and quality of life issues and concerns for breast cancer survivors and their families.
• Encourage and facilitate collaboration among breast cancer organizations and programs within the state.

Our hope is that this assessment will serve as a catalyst to policy change at the local and state level and will create a framework for comprehensive breast care in Alabama.

To read the 2011 Breast Health Community Assessment, click here. To review the 2011 Breast Health Community Assessment appendices, click on the following links:

• Key Informant Survey
• Community Survey
• Informed Consent for the ABCCEDP Participants
• Focus Group Questions

To read the 2009 Breast Health Community Assessment, click here.

The Women’s Breast Health Fund (WBHF) of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham (CFGB) is a Field of Interest Fund established to support holistic breast cancer care for women and their loved ones throughout the five-county CFGB region. The WBHF’s Advisory Committee, a group of community volunteers and leaders, believed that an understanding of the community served was necessary before making any recommendations for funding. Some Advisory Committee members are active Susan G. Komen for the Cure volunteers and participated in the planning and execution of this assessment. The WBHF’s mission covers diagnosis through follow-up care within the breast cancer continuum:  to make life better for women and their loved ones who are facing this disease.