UCSF Hosts Pilot Program to Educate Bay Area Ministers About Prostate Cancer
Ministers are in a unique position to inform, influence and counsel members of their congregation. They are looked to for guidance and support. With a heightened need to educate communities about prostate cancer in African American men, UCSF hosted ministers from all over the Bay Area on May 12 at its first-ever Minister's Cancer Education Workshop.
"We want ministries to be able to help in physical health, in addition to the spiritual health," said Mack Roach III, MD, interim chair of the Radiation Oncology department. "In theory, by just planting a seed, each minister can reach out to the hundreds of people in their congregation, and in turn through word of mouth, even more people can be made aware of the risks of prostate cancer."
Prostate cancer is the most common nonskin cancer in US men, with more than 200,000 new cases a year. It is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in men after lung and colorectal cancer. It is also more common in African American men, who in turn have a poorer survival rate than white Americans.
According to the American Cancer Society, the incidence rate is 50 percent higher than among white men, and the screening rate is 62 percent versus 42 percent for African American men. It was found that 56 percent of all prostate cancer in African American men is diagnosed early and yields a 93 percent relative five-year survival rate. When diagnosed late, the relative five-year survival rate drops to 30 percent.
"You're more likely to die of prostate cancer if you're black than white," said Roach. "In part, this is because prostate cancer is usually found in a more advanced stage, compared with cancers in white men. There seems to be a stigma in the African American community about having a prostate exam, and this hesitancy is a reason that when prostate cancer is finally diagnosed, it is already at an advanced stage."
The Minister's Cancer Education Workshop is a collaborative effort of two UCSF programs: the National Cancer Institute-funded Comprehensive Minority Institution/Cancer Center Partnership between UCSF and San Francisco State University, and the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Advisory Board (CCC-CAB). A grant from the Mount Zion Health Fund will also support a project to provide cancer information to youths from churches.
"We are bringing together the capabilities of comprehensive cancer centers to support minority communities," said Frank Staggers, MD, chair of the CCC-CAB, which was established to bring together community leaders from Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties to integrate messages, approaches and programs, and communicate them to the community through faith-based ministries.
"Ministers receive continuing education credit for taking the course, and become more knowledgeable in the process," he added. "If you put the information in the right hands, you can touch a lot of people who ordinarily would not have access to this information."
About 15 ministers representing churches from all around the Bay Area - including San Mateo and Richmond and within San Francisco from Bayview-Hunters Point and the Western Addition - came to the first-time educational workshop. Roach, the primary presenter, gave basic facts and information about prostate cancer to the group, emphasizing prostate cancer in African American men.
"There is no definitive reason why African American men have a greater risk of getting this disease than other races," he said. "What we do know is that early detection is extremely important."
As a result of the workshop, the participants came away with a basic understanding not only of the stages of prostate cancer and related treatments, screening options, and need for lifestyle and diet changes, but of male genitalia and urinary organs and their functions.
"If you learn a little more about prostate cancer than you knew when you came here, you will feel comfortable about advising your members," said Roach during his introduction. "Of course, you'll say, 'let's pray,' but you want to be able to provide them with answers and resources, and dispel some of the myths and misinformation that are out there."
For many ministers, being armed with accurate information helps them to feel more effective when they speak to their church members.
The Reverend Jesse Davis, who came to the workshop from the Shiloh Baptist Church in Hayward, has been a church leader for 38 years. "I have had men in my congregation come to me to talk about prostate cancer; I've had wives come to me. The information and resources I can pass on are invaluable. With 1,500 members, there are a lot of people I can touch."
This workshop is the first of an ongoing series that is planned to continue to educate Bay Area ministers. Future workshops will cover other cancers, such as breast and colorectal cancer, and will change locations for added accessibility.
"We want ministries to be able to help in physical health, in addition to the spiritual health," said Mack Roach III, MD, interim chair of the Radiation Oncology department. "In theory, by just planting a seed, each minister can reach out to the hundreds of people in their congregation, and in turn through word of mouth, even more people can be made aware of the risks of prostate cancer."
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"You're more likely to die of prostate cancer if you're black than white," said Roach.
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