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Cancer Affects Everyone

“Ernesto” Story from Helpline Specialist Jairo Valencia

No Estas Solo/a Campaign

A Clear Message Regarding Colorectal Cancer: Prevention is Key

Communities Work Together Towards Colorectal Cancer Prevention

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Cancer Affects Everyone

Self Reliance Foundation’s Acceso Hispano Initiative has designed the El Cáncer Nos Afecta a Todos (Cancer Affects Everyone) campaign, specifically for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The campaign focuses on breast and colorectal cancer and consists of a combined “in the air” and “on the ground” outreach approach to improve Latino access to cancer prevention and early detection services and to work to eliminate barriers to prevention and screening. This educational communications campaign will span five years, from 2009 to 2013, and include the development of an innovative scalable and cost-effective model for changing Latino attitudes and behaviors about cancer prevention awareness; forge a stronger link between community health service providers and Spanish-speaking Americans; increase U.S. Latino educational fluency about cancer prevention and early detection, and ultimately result in an increase in the number of Latinos being tested for cancer.

As part of this national campaign, Acceso Hispano, and initiative of Self Reliance Foundation is launching a 5-week pilot campaign (El Cancer Nos Afecta A Todos) in the Denver metropolitan area on November 16, 2009 to inform and educate Spanish-dominant Latino’s about Colorectal cancer, prevention and early detection through a Spanish-language mass-media and community outreach activities in partnership with the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program, Consulado Mexicano de Denver, AVANCE Supermarkets, and the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We are reaching the Latino audience through print, radio and television media along with workshops at community based churches. Members of the community who are uninsured and are interested in connecting with a primary health provider and learn if they are eligible for a colonoscopy at no cost to them are encouraged to contact us via telephone or email.

To find out more about the community centers that work in partnership with the Colorado Colorectal Screening Program (CCSP) in your area visit our recursos page and type in your zipcode and the keyword ECNAT (El Cancer Nos Afecta a Todos – Cancer affects everyone).  More information is also available by calling our hotline 1-800-473-3003 or by email info@accesohispano.org.

“Ernesto” Story from Helpline Specialist Jairo Valencia

The fear of losing a child is terrifying for any parent. For “Ernesto,” this nightmare has become reality as he tirelessly fights for custody of his five-year-old son. This overwhelmed father in need recently called Acceso Hispano’s bilingual toll-free helpline (1-800-473-3003) and shared his heart-wrenching story with Helpline Specialist Jairo Valencia.

The phone call revealed that “Ernesto” was a victim of domestic abuse and for that reason was forced to leave his home. His ex-wife has since denied access to their child despite his continued financial support. Desperate, “Ernesto” turned to the courts for help but was unable to garner neither legal representation nor a Spanish interpreter. These barriers prevented him from communicating to the judge that his ex-wife had a history of both domestic and alcohol abuse. After hearing their testimonies, the judge ruled in favor of the mother because “Ernesto” could not provide receipts documenting payments made to support their son.

Determined to protect his child, “Ernesto” will fight to have his case heard before a circuit court. Unsure of how to approach such a process, he turned to Acceso Hispano for help. Jairo Valencia patiently listened to this father’s story and immediately connected him with organizations in the Acceso Hispano Community Service Directory. These resources are located in his community and will provide counsel for “Ernesto” as he fights to overcome legal, cultural and social challenges in the battle for the wellbeing of his child.

Like the thousands of other people who call the Acceso Hispano Helpline, “Ernesto” is in a difficult situation – but he is not alone. Jairo Valencia and the rest of the Acceso Hispano team will continue to provide support to this father and will follow-up on his story.

by Janessa Nickell

No Estas Solo/a Campaign

Designed specifically for the US Department of Justice-Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Self Reliance

Foundation (SRF) launched a pilot Spanish-language human trafficking public awareness campaign featuring a major media and grassroots outreach campaigns in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland to build awareness and to assist the local human trafficking programs and services in increasing reported cases of human trafficking. This targeted, cross-platform 4 week communications strategy, which launched in December of 2009, was designed to reach victims and engage local Hispanic communities in identifying and rescuing victims of human trafficking.

Working together with members of the Washington DC Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, the DC based-AYUDA, Inc., Polaris Project, and Hispanic Communications Network, Self Reliance Foundation delivered a high-impact Spanish-language educational multimedia campaign in the DC metropolitan area that delivered critical information on human trafficking and promoted critical information and key services to the local Spanish-speaking population. The integrated media campaign included 28 bus and 16 bus shelter posters that were located in predominately Hispanic neighborhoods, resulting in more than 5 million media impressions. An innovative call-in media campaign included phone card messaging to 550,000 Spanish-speaking consumers. Radio spots ran on 4 local Spanish stations resulting in 785,000 media impressions, and a live call-in radio program featured bilingual experts who provided detailed facts, information and resources to listeners. The campaign included television spots that ran during popular programs on local Univision and Telemundo stations resulting in more than 750,000 impressions.

The campaign offered a toll free hotline that received more than 3,000 calls during the campaign period. The calls received were primarily from individuals who were potential victims of a wide variety of potential trafficking issues including labor exploitation, unfair labor, domestic violence, sexual exploitation. Self Reliance Foundation’s Acceso Hispano Helpline (Linea de AYUDA) provided quality bilingual information and referral to our nonprofit partners AYUDA and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and other local service providers.

To reinforce the media campaign’s message, SRF collaborated with the Hispanic-serving community and faith based partners to disseminate the campaign’s public education materials, and develop interpersonal grassroots outreach efforts to engage potential “Good Samaritan” members of the greater Hispanic community in the campaign. Our strategy of “in the air” and “on the ground” marketing efforts were designed to meet our goals of increasing the number of community members who are understand how to identify human trafficking victims, are aware of the purpose and services of the local service providers, and ultimately are willing to work with the these groups to identify, rescue, and assist human trafficking.

A Clear Message Regarding Colorectal Cancer: Prevention is Key

Denver, Colorado. (ConCienciaNews) - It is not a coincidence that most health conditions that disproportionately affect the Latino community in the United States are the result of the lack of prevention, including language barriers, lack of health insurance and access to basic information, there are many reasons why Hispanics do not undergo screening testing in time.

In the case of colorectal cancer, the situation becomes especially critical. Screening tests are aimed at senior populations, where there is a particular resistance among male Hispanics.
“Many times [the lack of prevention] is due to cultural factors, especially in men,” said Rodolfo Cardenas, journalist and spokesperson of the campaign Cancer affects all us, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “They often say ‘I do not need such things’.”

Such ‘things’ refer in particular to the three different types of screening tests for colorectal cancer, from which the most popular is perhaps the colonoscopy, which consists in the exploration of the intestines.

However, Cardenas believes that his credibility as a journalist in Denver community and personal experience may have a positive impact on Hispanic men. Born in Tachira, in Western Venezuela, Cardenas has lived the same experiences of many immigrants who come with temporary plans, but eventually decide to stay.

“I would love to change their minds and teach them that prevention is very important,” Cardenas said. “I am also a man, I am a Latino, I live in the U.S. and I am at that age in which we all must undergo testing and take care of ourselves. If I do this, why others cannot do it as well?
Although he has been very lucky since no one in his family has suffered from the disease, Cardenas has closely seen the effects of cancer on very of his closest friends.

“All these situations really touched me, ‘if I can do something, I will do it,’ and here is the opportunity, fortunately,” he said.

He is not trying to overcome the taboos in Latino community regarding cancer and colonoscopy, a test he underwent, Cardenas’s message goes beyond and covers future generations.

“We must do it for ourselves and our family’s well-being. I want to take care of myself because of my children. My father did it for me - although I was already a grown-up and independent man when my father died-; I still miss him every day.

This is a gift he wants to pass on to future generations.

“Although my two sons are grown up now, I feel they need me more every day,” Cardenas said. “I take care of myself for my family, so take care for yours,” he concluded.
To access information and resources of the campaign El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos, call the Acceso Hispano help line at 1-800-473-3003

Source: ConCienciaNews

Communities Work Together Towards Colorectal Cancer Prevention

Denver, Colorado. (ConCienciaNews) – For Luis Barrera, communications director at Avanza supermarkets in Denver, to offer good products to Hispanic families is as important as providing them with tools that contribute to their well-being and that of their communities.

That’s why, this month, Barrera is lending space at the Denver supermarket for three volunteers to set up a table with computers and internet access. The goal? To inform and educate Avanza’s consumers in Denver about colorectal cancer risks and how to prevent them.

This initiative is part of El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos, a campaign funded by the CDC, which has the goal to prevent colorectal cancer, the third most commonly diagnosed type of cancer among Hispanics.

From teaching them how to use the internet to accessing cancer-related information and where to go to obtain health resources and get a colonoscopy, health Promotoras are working directly with adults 50 and older throughout Denver Latino communities.

“People have been excited about this because the information is first-hand,” Barrera said. “The response has been great because people are always worried about their health.”

This is a concern that, according to Barrera, businesses should neither ignore, nor underestimate. As a Mexican immigrant committed to social causes, Barrera understands that making business should also go hand-to-hand with social responsibility.

“It’s not just about setting up a store and that’s it,” he said. “It’s also about interacting with the consumers and being part of their community.”

Barrera has been part of such initiatives even before his arrival in the United States seven years ago. In his native Mexico, he helped create projects that contributed to higher accessibility of cancer medications, the construction of a hospital and general assistance for kids with leukemia.

Once in the United States, Latino immigrants develop risk factors that make them more vulnerable to certain diseases, such as cancer. According to the CDC, 41 percent of Mexican American adults between 50 and 83 years old admitted in a 2003 study to never having any sort of colorectal cancer detection test; just a few of them admitted having some sort of accurate knowledge of the disease; and 41 percent said they had had discussed detection with their doctors at some point.

Although general barriers that lead to the abovementioned situation include lack of information, lack of health insurance and language barriers, Latinos are also underrepresented among the medical communities through clinical trials; regardless of being the fastest-growing segment of the US population.

The medical community suggests over and over that a change in eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle may play a detrimental role in Hispanics’ propensity to cancer.  For this reason, besides adopting a healthy diet and exercising regularly, the CDC urges adults 50 and older –or those with a family medical history of colorectal cancer—to get tested for colorectal cancer.

Doing so can save many lives.

For information and resources regarding the El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos campaign, call our helpline at 1-800-473-3003