PORTLAND, Ore. — The Regence Foundation announced today that it has awarded a $77,700 grant to Familias en Acción to increase breast cancer screening rates among Latinas in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, and shape policy that removes barriers to care for Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer.

Although the rate of breast cancer among Latinas is actually lower than among white and African American women, it is the leading cause of cancer death among Latinas. This is because breast cancer tends to be diagnosed at more advanced stages in Latinas, when treatments are less effective.

"Removing the linguistic and cultural barriers to care that Latinos face is a priority for The Regence Foundation and Regence BlueCross BlueShield," said Michael Alexander, Regence Foundation board chair. "We support Familias en Acción because it shares that focus, and is taking a thoughtful and data-driven approach to helping Latinas get the care they need."

With the Regence Foundation grant, Familias en Acción will hire a part-time patient navigator who will reach out to Latinas over 40 years old who have rarely or never been screened for breast cancer. The navigator will then work to remove any personal or cultural barriers that might prevent the women from participating in a screening, help them set up an appointment, and help facilitate timely follow-up if needed. Familias en Acción will also collect quantitative and qualitative data throughout the program to develop policy recommendations to help ensure timely follow-up care for women whose screenings have abnormal findings.

Familias en Acción is a nonprofit working to improve the health of the Latino community. It was founded in 1998 to help fill the need for a Latino culturally specific community based organization focused on family well-being.

• University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center  (Seattle, WA): $100,000 to address disparities in palliative care, measure outcomes and create guidelines from its new Primary Palliative Care Program. The program works to improve continuity and quality of care for terminally ill patients who lack a primary care provider.
• Familias en Accion  (Portland, OR): $77,700 to increase breast cancer screening rates among Latinas in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, and develop policy recommendations to help remove barriers to care for Latinas diagnosed with breast cancer.
• Morrow County Community Health Improvement Partnership  (Heppner, OR): $22,400 to support a new community collaborative made up of local health care providers and local government, community organizations and businesses. Its goal is to increase access to treatment locally and improve the health of residents in this rural north-central Oregon county.
• Snake River Community Clinic  (Lewiston, ID): $10,300 to help hire a continuity of care provider at the clinic and to support basic lab tests for new patients. The clinic is shifting its focus from one-time visits and urgent care to primary care for vulnerable populations.
• Children’s Cancer Association (Portland, OR): $10,000 to build three new mobile music carts for hospitalized children and teens at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. The music cart program, called MusicRx®, provides in-room, one-on-one music experiences for hospitalized children, as well as on-call palliative music for children and their families at end-of-life.

Several of these grants were awarded through The Regence Fund at The Oregon Community Foundation.