The Alaska Native Women's Wellness Project

Abstract

Alaska Native women have encountered many obstacles in the health care system which deter them from adhering to cancer screening recommendations. To improve access, it was necessary for us to listen to them and their attitudes about health care. As a result of this assessment, we changed our approach resulting in an overall increase in screening rates from 14% to 62%. A case example is presented to demonstrate barriers to cancer screening and our techniques for overcoming them.