Lung cancer screening can be a lifesaver, but those at greatest risk don’t take advantage of it. Among eligible Blacks, to whom cigarettes were intensely marketed a long time ago, the screening rate in the US is under 2%, and it’s just 18% among all groups.
The Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation wants to do something about this. With the help of a federal grant, it is running an outreach program to try to get more people tested. Lisa Carter-Bawa is leading the project. She said anti-smoking efforts have somehow backfired.
“They inadvertently stigmatized smoking which then attached itself to the disease,” she said. “Many people who are eligible today started as teenagers when cigarettes were everywhere and aggressively marketed, including menthols in Black neighborhoods, and now they’re made to feel like it’s their fault.”
She said the program at Hackensack uses churches and community organizations to have those who have been tested talk to people rather than lecture them.
“Most people who qualify for screening never get it and it’s not because the scan doesn’t work, it’s because nobody that they trust has told them about it,” said Carter-Bawa. “There’s an element of shame and stigma that keeps them from bringing up their smoking history so we’re trying to change who delivers the message.”
She said they see people through the whole screening process.
“We don’t stop at just saying you should get screened, we then have our community health workers who help connect people and navigate them,” she said. “We want to make sure they qualify but also get the scan ordered and scheduled, sort out transportation if that’s an issue and walk them through to the completed scan.”
Carter-Bawa said they’re working with more 20 churches and other groups in northern New Jersey and the New York City area, including the New York City Housing Authority.