Community Breast Screening “Treasure Your Chest”

Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of death in United States (CDC, 2019). It has a huge impact on our society. In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer (U.S. Breast Cancer Statistics, 2019). About 41,760 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2019 from breast cancer. Early diagnosis of the disease can reduce the mortality significantly and promote quality of life. Screening mammography has shown to reduce mortality from breast cancer in women 40-70years of age with increasing risk reduction with age.
Purpose: This project evaluated “Treasure Your Chest”, a breast cancer screening program in a Community Health Center (CHC) to determine if the CHC met program goals of screening eligible women aged 50-74 yrs. during the given timeline. In addition to this, the purpose was also to identify perceived barriers to the breast screening program and process and to provide recommendations for future screening practices.