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Editorial: Racial inequities with breast cancer survivors are indicative of a bigger issue

Florida Times-Union - 10/24/2021

When Jacksonville native Jasmine Souers got breast cancer five years ago at age 26, it wasn't easy to make the decision to have a bilateral mastectomy. It didn't help that at the time all of the images she saw were of white women,

"I googled Black women with mastectomies and all I could find was white women. I wondered why aren't Black women getting mastectomies? Why are more Black women having delayed reconstruction," she said. "And I wanted to know if I had options."

Even in the last couple of years, images have started to be more inclusive and for many years advances in treatment have continued to improve for all women. Still, Souers' experiences offer a glimpse into a much bigger problem. There's a big disparity in breast cancer survival rates between white and black women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

October is breast cancer awareness month. There's no better time to bring more attention to the disparity in healthcare in general.

Souers first turned to social media in search of stories of other black women. As a recent patient herself, she couldn't see it then, but hearing so many stories of breast cancer survivors nationwide led her to become an advocate for more equity in quality healthcare.

Two years ago, she co-founded an organization called "For the Breast of Us." The goal is to build strategic partnerships in the breast cancer community to help women of color overcome barriers to quality healthcare.

The organization focuses on all women of color, but she says that Black and Latina women especially have fared worse from breast cancer for decades. Souers says more efforts need to be put toward a few areas ranging from sharing stories in marginalized communities, creating more diverse marketing materials, and getting people of color to participate in research and clinical trials.

"We have to move from awareness to action," she said. "Women of color still face misconceptions that stop them from seeking treatment."

The Susan G. Komen Foundation recently reported a study that found that Black women experience higher rates of death from breast cancer due to a combination of factors, including biological factors such as the aggressive nature of certain breast cancers that are more prevalent in Black women. They also face barriers to early diagnosis, often receive substandard care, and experience discrimination and the consequences of systemic racism. According to the organization's analysis, racism, bias, and barriers in healthcare are felt by Black women nationwide, despite their income, education, or insurance status.

A 40 percent higher mortality rate for black women with breast cancer might lead someone to think there must be a genetic reason. But experts say that you can't ignore socioeconomic factors. The fact is breast cancer doesn't hit Black women at a larger rate than white women. But challenges such as being uninsured often lead to delays in treatment, which contributes to the higher breast cancer mortality rate.

Earlier this month a team of Florida State University researchers received a National Institutes of Health Director'sTransformative Research award worth $3.1 million to investigate racial inequities in the nation's healthcare system.

The project is expected to focus on the impact of racism in primary care that leads to significant health disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions. Various studies, including those looking at COVID-19, have shown disparities and poor outcomes at a disproportionate rate for people of color. However, the goal of this project is to develop new organizational and policy interventions.

In other words, they're making a serious effort to do something about the way care is delivered. NIH reported that they're providing funding specifically to investigate behavioral and social issues leading to racial inequities in the healthcare system.

Associate Professor of Social Work Carrie Pettus said the approach will allow them to understand areas of bias within the health system from a wide variety of perspectives including patients, community members, health administrators, healthcare providers, and experts in the field.

"What we're trying to do is move beyond just documenting racial bias and take action to implement solutions. We believe the most effective way to do this, based on prior research, is to have the stakeholders including the ones perpetuating bias to help generate the solutions," Pettus said. "That way they will be able to adopt policies and practices and sustain them moving forward."

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