The purpose of this program is to plan, implement and evaluate a regional breast cancer education summit meeting for eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. This meeting will be co-sponsored by the region's two designated comprehensive cancer centers, Fox Chase Cancer Center and the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. The goal is to bring together corporate leaders, especially high ranking corporate women, legislators, representatives of health departments and hospitals, women's groups, educators, organizations and groups serving the community. The emphasis for this full-day conference is on minority groups and the medically underserved. The focus will be on key issues related to breast cancer screening and detection, with examples of successful programs already in place in the target area. The objectives of the conference are: 1) to provide education for community and corporate leaders on current approaches to breast cancer screening and treatment; 2) to encourage corporate leaders to implement breast screening and education programs at the worksite; 3) to facilitate the development of breast cancer screening and education programs targeted to underserved populations; 4) to develop a unified regional effort to raise awareness of breast cancer issues and to provide support for breast cancer screening, education, and research. The outcomes of the conference will be evaluated primarily by means of an initial baseline assessment, follow-up through a task force to be formed as a result of the conference, and a survey of all conference participants six months after the summit to determine what new programs have been initiated and what problems and opportunities remain.
