Grant to AMH is the Ticket to Improved Breast Health

PHOTO BY DAVE WHALEY
Malea Nowland is the new breast health navigator at
Alton Memorial Hospital.

(Alton, IL -February 2, 2010) � Everyone wins with some lottery tickets, including the Illinois Lottery�s Ticket for the Cure. Portions of ticket sales are allocated for grants for breast cancer early detection, education, research and patient services throughout the state.

In 2009, Alton Memorial Hospital�s Breast Health Outreach Program, �Woman to Woman: Standing Up for Breast Health,� received a $25,000 Ticket for the Cure grant. As a result, the hospital was able to screen 130 uninsured women through the program.

Based on the program�s success, the hospital received an even larger grant � $30,000 � for 2010. More than $1.25 million in Ticket for the Cure community grants have been awarded to 47 local health departments and community-based organizations this year to build capacity, provide breast cancer education and outreach and/or to offer supportive services for those who have breast cancer and their families.

�We�re again targeting women in our community, making a concentrated effort to remove barriers that sometimes prevent women from confronting their health risks,� says Marlene Lewis, development officer at Alton Memorial, who wrote the grant. �By offering this program in an accessible, non-threatening environment we have been successful in connecting with the women we want to reach.�

Lewis says African-American women are diagnosed less frequently with breast cancer but they are more likely to die if they are diagnosed because the cancer is usually found later, in a more advanced stage.

This year, the Woman to Woman outreach program is partnering with Lewis and Clark Community College to bring a mobile health van and nurse practitioners to screening locations, with a goal of reaching 200 women.

�We want women to know the importance of self-examinations and encourage them to be more proactive about breast health,� Lewis says. �The key is to make the program accessible and personal. By bringing health care to a woman�s neighborhood or place of worship, our Woman to Woman program is outreach in its truest form.�

Women who qualify for the program will receive a breast examination by a nurse practitioner, a one-on-one consultation with a registered nurse, educational materials and a $10 Shop and Save Gift Certificate. Transportation to screenings can also be provided if needed. Screenings in 2010 are scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at Morning Star Baptist Church in Alton; 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 17, at the Alton YWCA; noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, at the fifth annual Family Health, HIV/AIDS and Kidney Expo at Alton Square; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at Bread of Life Fellowship Church in Alton; and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at Bethesda Temple in Alton.

For more information about the program, screening dates and locations, call Marlene Lewis at 618-463-7701.