Development of a cancer prevention-detection clinic

Abstract

Control of cancer through risk reduction and early detection has great potential. Roswell Park Memorial Institute's Prevention-Detection Center addresses a community need for health promotion, disease prevention, and cancer detection as well as providing opportunity for research on the efficacy of such a program. The Prevention-Detection Center offers a range of services including education, genetic counseling, risk assessment, counseling in smoking cessation and other means of risk reduction, and screening for cancer. It is also involved in evaluation of new technologies of cancer detection such as the ultrasonic examination of the breast. A community outreach program is aimed at attracting high-risk populations. In its first eighteen months of operation; the Prevention-Detection Center detected 24 confirmed cancers. The Center is used by approximately 60 persons each week. Interviews with persons using the clinic over a two-week period indicate that most are motivated to attend because a relative has had cancer or because of a belief in the importance of regular checkups. Client satisfaction with the clinic is high. Although many of the activities of the Prevention-Detection Center have a research dimension, many of its activities and services are suited to the community ambulatory health care setting.