February 1, 2006
New Blum van staff offer prostate cancer prevention, education
Blum Family Resource Center Van
Mark Kennedy educates men in the greater Boston community about prostate cancer
After a recent board meeting at the Roxbury YMCA, a young man of color concerned about his father's prostate cancer diagnosis approached Mark Kennedy, a Dana-Farber health educator and fellow board member.
Kennedy gave the man his Dana-Farber business card and a postcard bearing a photo of himself to bring home to his dad. "It turned out the dad knew me," says Kennedy — no surprise, since he is well-known through his work at Dana-Farber, community leadership, roots in the Boston area, and large family, and has become the "go to" guy for men concerned about prostate cancer. He sprang into action for his colleague's family, educating them about prostate cancer and guiding them through treatment.
Kennedy and Jacques Carter, MD, MPH, who was recently named medical director of the Gillette Company Community Prostate Cancer Screening and Education Program, work out of the Dana-Farber Blum Family Resource Center Van to educate men in the greater Boston community about prostate cancer, and provide them with early screenings. During the van's many visits to health centers, churches, and community organizations last year, the team educated 791 men about prostate cancer and screened 340.
Joining Dana-Farber officially last fall as health educator, community outreach coordinator, and patient navigator, Kennedy says; "If we connect men in the community to someone they can trust, and provide them with education and access to screening and care, we can cut down on the number of men who develop prostate cancer and bring earlier treatment to those who do get it."
Jacques Carter, medical director of the Gillette Company Community Prostate Cancer Screening and Education Program
Prostate cancer is highly treatable if detected early. More than 70 percent of all diagnoses occur in patients 65 or older; African-American men are 60 percent more likely than whites to have prostate cancer, and twice as likely to die from it; and men whose father or brother have had it are at higher risk.
Still, getting these men into education and prevention programs is not easy. "When men hear 'prostate cancer' they tend to overreact by rushing in to have their prostate gland removed unnecessarily, or under-react by ignoring the problem," says Kennedy. To help clarify information about the disease as much as possible, he shows a map of treatment options and results when he gives talks on prostate cancer, presenting 13 "scenarios" that describe men dealing with the disease. "This helps my listeners see where they fit in," he explains.
Dana-Farber hired Kennedy in 2003 as a consultant for its emerging program, helping to organize focus groups and create a culturally sensitive education plan for prostate cancer. A graduate of Tufts University with a background in strategic planning, he teaches cross-cultural communications at Simmons and Regis colleges; gives talks to various groups, such as the National Black Leadership on Cancer; and organizes programs with community partners, such as the Prostate Health Education Network known as PHEN.
Carter, who is also an attending physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is overseeing the screening program, including digital rectal examinations (DREs) and blood testing for prostate specific antigens (PSA). Both tests take place in the van, and are key to enabling early detection and successful treatment of this cancer. Carter earned his medical degree at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and did his residency in internal medicine at the then New England Deaconess Hospital. He completed graduate work at Harvard School of Public Health and a clinical fellowship in primary care medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
"A message that I'd like to bring to men in the community is that they must be knowledgeable about prostate disease and prostate cancer," says Carter. "All men are at risk, and early detection makes a big difference."