Knowledge is power: The Black breast cancer experience

Program partner: Living Beyond Breast Cancer
Moderator: Atiba Page
Speaker: Lisa Nelson, LMSW, OSW-C

Sometimes it’s the scars we don’t see that impact people the most. Join us as we discuss the prevalent needs in mental health for Black women impacted by breast cancer. During this session, we will unpack how to best support mental and emotional well-being, address existing barriers, and offer practical advice and resources. This session will equip you with tools to best support yourself and others.

Program partner: My Style Matters
Moderator: Tiah Tomlin-Harris, MS
Speakers: Dede K. Teteh, DrPH, MPH, CHES and Jazma Tapia, PhD

Join us for an empowering presentation on reclaiming our beauty and reducing exposures to toxins from our personal care products. Learn about the harmful effects of toxins commonly found in our products like parabens, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances. Explore the impact of these toxins on our health and how we can demand legislative change. Get practical tips and guidance on making informed choices for safer products because we deserve products that nourish and celebrate our natural Black beauty.

Program partner: Tigerlily Foundation
Moderator: Maimah Karmo
Panelists: Ogori N. Kalu, MD, MS; Lashelle D. Scott, MPM; and Camille A. Lewis

If we want to see change, we must be the change we hope to see in the world. Join our interactive panel of patient advocates and physicians as we share tangible tools for creating change in our communities. Learn to be a force multiplier in your community by sharing adding your voice to the health equity movement.

Program Partner: Touch the Black Breast Cancer Alliance
Moderator: Ricki Fairley
Panelists: LaToya Bolds-Johnson, PA-C; Monique Gary, DO, MSc, FACS; Sara Horton, MD; Sheila Marie Johnson; Melanie A. Nix; and Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD

Clinical trials are research studies in which people volunteer to try new therapies and interventions (under careful supervision) in order to help doctors identify the best treatment plans with the fewest side effects. These studies help improve the overall standard of care (the treatment regimen that most physicians and experts widely agree is the most effective and appropriate for a specific subtype and stage of breast cancer). Clinical trials are an important step in discovering new treatments for breast cancer and other diseases as well as new ways to detect, diagnose, and reduce the risk of disease.

Black women are largely excluded from trials that study breast cancer drugs and treatments. With low participation rates in clinical trials, Black women miss access to newly emerging and often life-extending treatments not otherwise available. But more than that, clinical trials are used to answer major questions: Does the new treatment or procedure work? Is what's being tested better than what's being used now? Does it cause more or fewer side effects?

The majority of breast cancer clinical trial participants are white women, which means that these fundamental questions aren’t being answered for Black women’s bodies. Black women also experience many cancer drug side effects differently, so what other aspects of treatment are not the same for Black breast cancer patients?

Trial data, resulting treatment protocols, and product development don’t account for the many factors of Black Breast Cancer. We will not be able to change the devastating Black Breast Cancer mortality numbers unless we understand the physiology of Black women. We cannot do that until we have more Black women participating in clinical research.

Learn from this panel of doctors, researchers and patients as they share their experiences and how clinical trial participation is saving the lives of Black Breasties.

Program partner: The Chrysalis Initiative
Moderator: Arnethea Sutton, PhD
Panelists: Roberta "Bobbi" Albany, Kimmie Ducksworth, and Jamil Rivers

The Chrysalis Initiative was established in 2019 to address breast cancer disparities and breast health inequities using patient activation (or empowerment), provider education, and barrier intervention to reduce the impact of disparities in breast cancer outcomes. The Chrysalis Initiative addresses the individual and institutional knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that impact health outcomes for Black women (and other disparate groups) with breast cancer.

How unequal is breast cancer care for Black women?

Studies show that breast cancer treatment outcomes for Black women compared to White women are not equal, resulting in a 42% higher mortality rate for Black women. But little has been done to change this reality.

This session will discuss how TCI and LBBC make medical communities aware of these disparities and help open their eyes to any blind spots and procedural issues that could be unknowingly perpetuating the problem.

The Chrysalis Initiative is based on a four-part strategy to reduce disparities in breast cancer
care, improve equity, and result in systemic change:

1. Education of breast cancer risks if gone undiagnosed.
2. Providing support and barrier intervention for breast cancer patients.
3. Offering education and intervention for providers with breast cancer patients.
4. Developing engaging opportunities rooted in equity, encouraging BIPOC students to
   pursue careers in healthcare.

The work categories of The Chrysalis Initiative are:

• Patient coaching, navigation, and education
• Provider training
• Equity assessments and workshops
• Student pipeline programs
• Speaking engagements
• Advocacy training
• Virtual learning management modules
• Online content, courses, and guides

Program partner: For the Breast of Us
Moderator: April Finley
Panelists: Vatesha Bouler; Latoya Cauley; Tandria Edwards, and Chalice C. Rhodes, PhD

Survivorship can be about picking up where you left off or pause.... reset...restart.... either way, I got you sis! Navigating survivorship from diagnosis and beyond as a Black Woman.