Past Projects
The Impact of Breast Cancer on the Hispanic Family was a psychosocial study of the impact of breast cancer on the Hispanic family and its quality of life, with findings that reveal specific impacts on family members and Hispanics’ interests in genetic testing.
Psychosocial Study of Breast Cancer Survivorship and Genetic Testing Among Hispanic Breast Cancer Registry Members sought to identify key psychosocial variables that influence effective communication of breast cancer risk information and genetic screening among members of Hispanic families with hereditary breast cancer.
Nuestras Historias: Mujeres Latinas Sobreviviendo el Cáncer del Seno/Our Stories: Latinas Surviving Breast Cancer is a book featuring 26 South Texas women who have fought breast cancer who describe the Latina breast cancer experience and culturally relevant coping skills in their own words. The 114-page book, produced by Redes En Acción, is in full color and presented in English and Spanish.
Buena Vida! Protecting Your Family from Breast Cancer used 24-page English/Spanish publications to educate Hispanic communities about cancer issues and raise awareness about prevention and control activities that are intended to reduce the burden of cancer among medically underserved Hispanics/Latinos.
Cancer Genetics Network (CGN): Buena Vida Magazine Evaluation and CGN Recruitment Study evaluated the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive bilingual magazine and interpersonal communication in recruiting Hispanic participants in the Texas Cancer Genetics Network.
Replication of A Su Salud En Acción: Cooperative Agreements for Replication and Dissemination of Effective Breast and Cervical Cancer Health Education Interventions replicated a prior project’s breast and cervical cancer prevention and control efforts among Hispanics/Latinos, with an ultimate goal of increasing the number of Hispanic women who seek the services of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Redes En Acción: The National Hispanic/Latino Cancer Network, first funded from 2000 as this Special Population Network of the National Cancer Institute, is dedicated to developing a national infrastructure of academic centers, community and federal partners and local and regional health professionals, civic leaders and researchers to stimulate cancer control research, awareness and training.
Special Interest Project II: Latinos in a Network for Cancer Control established a Cancer Prevention and Control Network for Texas and surrounding states along the Texas-Mexico Border with a focus on eliminating cancer–related health disparities among Latinos through community-based intervention and dissemination research.
Reducing Cancer Health Disparities by Disseminating Evidence-Based Approaches for Energy Balance was a study to assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about nutrition and exercise among low-income Hispanic women older than age 40 in Houston.
National Hispanic Leadership Initiative on Cancer (NHLIC): En Acción sought to initiate the first comprehensive assessment of cancer risk factors among the major populations of Hispanic/Latino men and women and develop state-of-the-art cancer prevention and control strategies tailored to those diverse populations.
A Su Salud, part of a larger study called Programa A Su Salud, studied and demonstrated the effectiveness of mass media health messages using culturally relevant role models from the low-income community of Eagle Pass, Texas.
Overcoming Barriers to Early Phase Clinical Trials (EPCT): Increasing EPCT Accrual in South Texas sought to identify the cultural, economic and structural barriers to early-phase clinical trial participation faced by patients and oncologists, and develop an interventional trial to reduce those barriers and increase participation among minorities.
Texas Cancer Genetics Consortium: Education & Outreach Work Group helped develop communication functions, such as Web sites and newsletters, for the activities of the Cancer Genetics Network.
Hispanic/Latino Genetics Community Consultation Network (HLGCCN) sought to increase Hispanic/Latino participation in genetics research by pilot-testing a participatory model of community consultation among a sample of representatives of U.S. Hispanics/Latinos to identify, prioritize, and disseminate information on genetics issues and serve as a model for additional community consultations.
Multi-Cultural Tobacco Media and Community Control Studies in Texas aimed to investigate and evaluate the processes and effects of media, peer networking, and education and policy activities to reduce smoking among the state’s white, Mexican American and African American middle- and high-school students.
Mass Media Intervention to Reduce Youth Smoking, Project 1: Message Development Using Audience Research aimed to develop TV and radio advertisements to help youths avoid or quit smoking cigarettes and increase the effectiveness of mass media campaigns that target youths and encourage tobacco control.
Sin Fumar: Preventing Tobacco Use Among Border Youth aimed to prevent and reduce tobacco use among youth in grades 6-12 in Laredo, Texas, utilizing peer role models and behavioral journalism in a smoking prevention model.
Texas Diabetes Institute project applied the A Su Salud En Acción health promotion model to identify Hispanic community practices regarding diabetes, develop an educational community intervention, enhance the community’s knowledge and protective behaviors about diabetes, and promote diabetes screening.
Mirame!/Look at Me! – Substance Abuse Prevention Video Series for Hispanic Adolescents was a bilingual video series with curriculum support that exposed Hispanic youth to life-skills training to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in South Texas.
An Intervention for Hispanic Children with Asthma was a multimedia intervention to help youths and their caregivers better manage and reduce the incidence and severity of acute asthmas attacks among Hispanic children with chronic asthma.