Minority Colon Cancer Screening Increases in NYC
There has been a
huge increase in the number of NYC minorities that are getting screened for colon cancer, something that is viewed as a positive thing because of the seriousness of the disease. Screening significantly reduces the likelihood that the disease will become fatal. This type of increase indicates that education about the problem is successful.
Screening rates increased over the past five years for all different ethnicities. Screening among minority groups grew considerably, to the point where African Americans and Hispanic Americans now get screening at higher rates than whites do in NYC.
It is believed that this increase is due to the introduction of "patient navigators" to the medical program there. These are bilingual individuals who place phone calls to patients to remind them of the need for colon cancer screening and who assist them in setting up the appointments. Over the past five years, this has caused rates of screening to increase by 50% across many minority groups.
Question of the Day: Will colon cancer screening rates in NYC continue to grow?photo link
