North Memorial Combating Racial Disparities in Cancer Treatment
Breast Cancer Awareness Month serves as a reminder for women and their loved ones to stay up to date on their checkups. North Memorial Health is working to address the health care disparities for Black women year-round.
Angela Bowen’s job is to get African-American women in to the North Memorial Health Breast Center in Robbinsdale for their regular mammograms.
Bowen said 70 percent of the women in the hospital’s area need those routine checkups.
“The earlier that you get your mammogram done, the less likely they might find something,” she said. “And if they do find something, it’s a better chance of getting better treatment.”
A clinical oncology study reported that Black women are 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. Increasing access is one way to reduce those rates.
Representing Hope
As part of her job, Bowen calls patients who are past due for a routine mammogram check. Many women are years behind on those vital checkups.
She said much of that is because of lack of access, lack of understanding and even lack of representation.
“You would just be amazed at the things that we hear,” Bowen said. “The misinformation and knowledge that sometimes doesn’t get carried over to the African American community. The mistrust of doctors.”
Angela Bowen makes a phone call to one of the patients on her list.
Mammograms are recommended for women age 40 and over. If you have a family history, it’s recommended to get it checked out even earlier. Bowen’s family has a history, so she’s gotten hers checked already. She said she relays that information to the people she calls — and hopes they feel empowered by their similarities.
“If you see someone that represents you in the hospital getting their cares and things that need to be done, I feel like you’re likelier to get care yourself. Because you’re represented here,” Bowen said.
A United Health Care grant funds Bowen’s work. It’s a part of a program designed to focus on what neighbors in the area need right now.
Since Bowen started, she’s connected with 421 women and scheduled mammograms for at least 156 of them.
“I’m making a difference in my community. For myself, for my children, and for everybody else,” Bowen said. “Hoping that this effort that I’m doing will be a lasting effort to make them come in every year.”
