Health Promotion Educator
PSA-2-PSA: ELIMINATING THE PROSTATE CANCER DISPARITY
FOCUS
African-American men are experiencing an alarming prostate cancer disparity; having a 60 percent greater likelihood of being diagnosed with the disease than most ethnic groups and dying at a rate 2.5 times greater than white men. I am developing an innovative media project entitled “PSA-2-PSA” that will increase awareness of this disturbing health inequity, by making effective use of compelling television public service announcements that feature real prostate cancer survivors and men at increased risk. African American participants will also be targeted with the newly-conceived “EXUMBRA” component of the “PSA-2-PSA” project, which uses a dynamic engagement tool to prompt men to come “out of the shadows’ and become more proactive in their health maintenance, e.g., regular prostate cancer screenings.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: WALNUT MOUNTAIN Initiative to Reduce African American Prostate Cancer Disparity Through Film
For a host of reasons, African American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a rate of some 1.5 times that of white men and die from the disease at a rate of 2.5 times. These disparities can be traced to a lack of education, cost, mistrust of medical institutions, location, cultural biases among clinicians, etc. WALNUT MOUNTAIN has a multitiered approach that addresses each of these social determinants of health. WALNUT MOUNTAIN is a novel three-year health education and health services initiative that addresses the African American prostate cancer disparity via a compelling true-life cinematic tool (a film), presented in conjunction with major free health events that provide free prostate and other health screenings. The project will be launched with pilot programs in Hampton and Portsmouth, Virginia, predominantly African American cities that have the highest prostate cancer diagnosis and mortality rates, respectively, in the state. It will then be staged in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Birmingham, Alabama; Oakland, California; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Baltimore, Maryland. The goal is to reach eight new cities with a WALNUT MOUNTAIN event each year.
MORE ABOUT TERRANCE
A valiant prostate cancer survivor/warrior, I have been undaunted in my activism. I have moderated panel discussions at the U.S. Capitol and the Russell U.S. Senate Building, during annual African-American Prostate Cancer Disparity Summit events, staged by the Prostate Health Education Network (Boston, Mass.). Among other activities I wrote, produced and hosted the “Full Court Press” television special on the African American prostate cancer disparity.Click here to watch Terrance’s Legacy Project video.