Promoting breast health awareness: Can a sensor-enabled training system for patient education help?

INTRODUCTION: According to a 2009 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, 79% of women (N = 222) diagnosed with breast cancer reported that they identified their cancers through breast self-exam (BSE). However, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force does not require clinicians to teach women how to perform BSE. METHODS: To address this grave challenge, our team at the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement (TECI) Center has developed a mobile, sensor-enabled haptic training system to teach women proper BSE technique. To validate the efficacy of the training system, our team deployed a data collection at the 2019 Breast Cancer and African Americans (BCAA) event where survey, sensor, and anecdotal data were collected from 61 participants. The custom-built breast model used in this study had a single, hard mass embedded in it. RESULTS: Participants at the BCAA event were able to successfully identify the mass 65% of the time and used an average force of 7.2 N. When looking at participants' confidence in their abilities to perform BSE, only 10% of respondents answered "very confident" pre-training whereas post-training, the reporting for "very confident" jumped to 66% (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: By comparison, our previous work revealed that practitioners who use less than 10 N of force are 70% more likely to miss a lesion. The integration of sensors into the BSE haptic training system allowed for objective, evidence-based assessment of hands-on skill. In addition to teaching women proper BSE technique, this training empowered women to be informed advocates in their breast health journey. Future community-based training/feedback sessions will allow for continuous advancement of the training system.

Progress in the pipeline: replication of the minority training program in cancer control research.

BACKGROUND: This paper evaluates the replicability of an NCI-funded didactic/experiential program to increase the diversity of doctorally-prepared cancer disparities investigators. METHODS: The program was developed and operated successfully for three years in Northern California when a replication was established at UCLA. Feasibility, process, impact, and outcome measures on UCSF and UCLA summer-institute participants were compared. RESULTS: Average participant rankings of the influence of the program on intention to apply for a doctorate were 9.1/10 (UCSF) and 8.6/10 (UCLA). A total of 22.5% of UCSF and 10% of UCLA participants have enrolled in, been accepted by, or completed doctoral programs. Among these alumni, 68% (21/31) of UCSF and 60% (3/5) of UCLA participants plan to conduct their doctoral research in cancer control. CONCLUSIONS: This program has been successfully replicated and has met its objective to increase the pipeline of ethnically diverse doctoral-level public health researchers. Expansion of the program to other regions of the US is feasible and indicated.