Posted on Wed, Oct. 26, 2005
Group promotes breast cancer education among Latinas with bingo at workplace
By David L. Beck - Mercury News
The white cloths and roses on the hotel conference room tables may have been typical, but the women seated at those tables Monday were more likely to be cleaning the room than listening to a speaker.
They were the hotel's housekeeping staff, and they were there to learn -- or be reminded -- about breast cancer. By playing bingo.
"Sometimes I think we take people for granted,'' said Tina Messenger, general manager of the Staybridge Suites hotel in Sunnyvale. "There are cultural differences here.''
It's precisely those cultural differences that Latinas Contra Cancer hopes to address with its Breast Health Bingo game.
"We target low-income Spanish-speaking women,'' said the group's executive director, TV newswoman Ysabel Duron."So we also deal with myth, misinformation and so on, at a level they feel comfortable with and in an appropriate place.''
The myths and misinformation are right there on the bingo card: ``No es un pecado tocar y examinarse los senos'' -- It is not a sin to touch or examine your breasts. ``Comer saludable reduce el riesgo de cáncer'' -- Healthy eating will reduce the risk of cancer.
Youth, mortality, God and practical advice all find a place on the colorful little bingo cards distributed by Latinas Contra Cancer. There are no losers in the game, although a few T-shirts, a lace handkerchief and a silver angel pin were distributed in a drawing at the end.
Then the women (and two men: ``Los hombres también pueden tener cancer de seno'' -- Men also can have breast cancer -- dug into another conference-room staple: fruit, vegetables and bottled water.
Latinas don't get breast cancer more often than other women; in fact,according to the American Cancer Society, the incidence among Latinas is lower than it is among whites or African-Americans.
But the death rate is higher. Why? ``Because of when their cancer's detected,'' said Angie Carrillo, a cancer society spokeswoman for the Silicon Valley/Central Coast region.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women, according to the cancer society. And uninsured women with breast cancer have a 30 to 50 percent greater risk of dying than women who have health insurance.
Duron is passionate about the cultural context, which as she sees it ranges from limited health education to religious beliefs to gender relationships. Whether, for example, a man ``allows'' his woman to see a male doctor may depend on such factors as age and immigration status as well as education, Duron said.
``But even with Latinas that are educated, there are still a lower number of Latinas getting mammograms.''Carmen Navarro, a 29-year-old Staybridge housekeeper, said after Monday's game and a film on breast self-examination that the only aspect of the program that was new to her was the fact that men can get breast cancer too.
Speaking through a translator, executive housekeeper Shirley Folsch,she said she gave herself a breast examination when she was pregnant, and thought she felt lumps. But she didn't go to a doctor. She will now, she said.
Josefina Mendoza, 51, said it was ``very important to do the breast test -- and to go to the specialist.'' She's had a mammogram. ``She knows all about this,'' said her daughter, Erica Romswinckel, ``but she thinks it's really important.''
Eighty percent of hotel workers in California are Latina, according to Duron, which makes them a likely target group for the program. Duron set up Monday's session through the hotel's sales director, Robin J. Fenstermaker, whom she met at a trade association meeting. Getting them after work -- before they go home -- is crucial.
``We recognize that life gets in the way for these women, and they always put themselves last,'' said Duron. ``If they went home after work, we might never get them back.''
Contact David L. Beck dbeck@mercurynews.com or at (408) 920-5458. or Ysabel