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Implementing a College-Based Breast Health Advocate Program
in North Philadelphia Latino Communities
Proposal to Susan G. Komen HQ – Supporting Affiliate Education Interventions
Overview of Susan G. Komen Funding Announcement
Susan G. Komen Headquarters is accepting applications for projects under the Supporting Affiliate
Education Interventions RFA. The aim of this funding opportunity is to support, expand, or create
breast health and/or breast cancer-specific interventions that would be designed and deployed by
Komen Affiliate staff. Komen Affiliates are eligible to apply for up to two years of funding.
Summary of Proposal
The Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen has created a program to implement a college-based
community health educator program at Esperanza College of Eastern University. Esperanza
College is an accredited college that seeks to provide members of the Hispanic and local
community a Christian faith-based education that is affordable and culturally appropriate so they
can continue their contributions and leadership in their communities. The community health
education program aims to empower individuals from the target community to educate about the
importance of breast self-awareness and screenings in a non-threatening, informal environment
using language, examples and activities that resonate with their audience. Through this program
we hope to motivate families in North Philadelphia to take charge of their breast health by calming
fears related to screening, encouraging discussion of medical family history and connecting to
support services, when necessary. The Esperanza College community health advocates will learn
Breast Cancer 101 and techniques to deliver these messages from the Komen Philadelphia
Outreach Coordinator and Komen HQ’s nationally piloted Hispanic/Latina Outreach Tool Kit. After
being trained, they will take on the role of breast health advocates thereby being tasked with
delivering these messages to their family, neighbors, and community settings. Community settings
will include Philadelphia Department of Public Health HC#6 and HC#10, Federally Qualified Health
Centers (e.g. Maria De Los Santos and Esperanza Health Center), and churches that serve
primarily Latinos in North Philadelphia.
Komen Philadelphia has been particularly eager to implement this program at Esperanza College
because of the striking success we have had with our annual Latinas United for the Cure breast
health education event. A recent meeting with leaders from Latino serving organizations in our
service area led us to believe that LUFC represented a signature event that could be best served
with local, more personal activities throughout the year. We were told that this technique would
make a more powerful impact on the Latina community by meeting them in settings that are most
familiar to them. Esperanza College is an ideal partner to have in beginning this endeavor as they
have a long-standing reputation and shared mission of improving the overall health and wellbeing
of Latinos in North Philadelphia. With this approach, we expect that individuals reached by this
project will demonstrate significant improvements in awareness about breast self-awareness
messages, stated intention to sign up for screenings, and increase in referrals made to Komen.

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As part of the two-year project, Komen Philadelphia is proposing to establish two of the following
cycles:
• Introduction: Introduce Breast Cancer 101 and College-Based Program to Esperanza College
students
• Recruitment: Recruit up to 30 students to become Komen community health educators
• Training: Administer Breast Cancer 101 and Outreach training in two, two-hour sessions
o Training will include breast self-awareness messages, delivering BC101 to different
audiences/settings, role playing, using Komen Philadelphia Resource and Referral
Guide, and competency quiz
o PDPH site visit, tour and shadowing opportunity
• Outreach/Education Sessions: Community health educators will utilize training to deliver
education in ‘home’ and community settings while collecting pre- and post-tests and Intent to
Act cards
o ‘Home’ settings are designed to build comfort in delivering education and will
include: their households and families, neighbors, and Esperanza Inc. breast health
education event
o Community settings include: PDPH health centers and Federally Qualified Health
Centers
• Outreach/Education Follow Up: For BHAs that collected Intent to Act cards with participant
contact info, Komen Philadelphia staff will follow up to see if the participant completed their
medically-related actions (e.g. get a mammogram, talk to a doctor about my personal risk)
• Ongoing Supervision/Oversight: Komen Philadelphia staff (primarily Outreach Coordinator) will
be available to answer any BHA questions that arise in monthly supervision visits/phone calls;
monthly supervision visits may include speaker visits from local physicians or breast cancer
survivors to enhance learning. May also include self-evaluation of video recording of home
education sessions.
• Latinas United for the Cure Recognition: Feature community health educators at Latinas
United for the Cure with an acknowledgment ceremony and dedicated breakout session.
• College-Based BHA Tool Kit: During the summers of 2015 and 2016, Komen Philadelphia and
partners will undergo a process evaluation to determine strengths and challenges of the
program. At the conclusion of the funding period, Komen Philadelphia will develop a College-
Based BHA Tool Kit that will be used for other affiliates and external programs to develop their
own programs based on best practices and challenges learned from this process.
Komen Philadelphia and its partners will use a number of opportunities throughout the project to
determine the effectiveness and value of our program. The following are the program’s two year
objectives:
• Knowledge will increase by more than 50%
• Intent to Act cards will be submitted by 75% of participants (240 people)
• Conduct 40 groups (3+ participants) at community/health center settings
• Conduct 200 one-on-one education encounters
• Refer 80 participants to a local provider for breast services
• Follow up with 100% who provided contact info (250 people) and track completion of
medically-based intent to act items (30-91+days)
• Undergo process evaluation during summers to identify improvements
• Develop College-Based BHA Tool Kit at the end of the funding cycle
• Serve a total of 320 women
The findings from these reports will be shared with Komen Philadelphia stakeholders including (but
not limited to): funders, staff, volunteers, board of directors, community partners and interested
attendees.