Women in rural Indiana and Ohio have the opportunity to share with researchers their thoughts and feelings about cancer screening tests through a cancer intervention study.
The study, called Rural Interventions for Screening Effectiveness, or RISE, encourages women to be proactive with their health in order to promote earlier detection and fewer fatalities from breast, cervical or colon cancer. The National Cancer Institute is funding the study.
The research team, under the direction of Victoria Champion, Ph.D., with Indiana University and Electra Paskett, Ph.D., with Ohio State University, currently are contacting 5,000 randomly selected women and inviting them to join the study.
“We are contacting women from rural communities and from underserved populations,” Champion said. “They face a higher incidence of cancer and a higher mortality rate than women in urban areas.”
She also said women from rural areas are more likely to not take advantage of screening options, and it is the research team’s hope to learn how to help women in rural Indiana and Ohio get these lifesaving tests.
“Jackson County is one of the 48 participating Indiana counties because it has been designated as a rural county,” said Cathy Tatum, program director for the RISE project at Ohio State University. “We’re trying to encourage women who are at average risk to get screened for colon, breast and cervical cancer. That’s the overarching goal with this study.”
Tatum said women ages 50 to 74 are being targeted for the study because that is the age group for the screening recommendations the researchers are using.
“We have been working with the PR department at IU to get the information out about this study because we were needing more women from Indiana,” Tatum said. “We were recruiting women from Ohio, but for some reason, we weren’t getting as many women from Indiana.”
Researchers say it is important to determine the barriers preventing women from getting cancer screenings and find ways to encourage every woman to get these routine tests.
Women who are interested in participating or who have questions can contact Tatum at 877-304-2273, option 1.
Additional information about the study can be found on the Hoosier Women for Healthy Indiana Facebook page, where there is a link that will take them to a quick survey to determine eligibility.
Most women who are selected to join the study will be asked to devote less than one hour over a one-year period. Participants will be asked to complete phone interviews and mailed paper surveys, and they may be asked to review study materials.
Women who complete the study will receive a gift card.
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For information about the study, visit facebook.com/go.osumc.edu.
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