[00:00:00] Adam Walker: From Susan G Komen, this is Real Pink, A podcast exploring real stories, struggles, and triumphs related to breast cancer. We’re taking the conversation from the doctor’s office to your living room.
[00:00:17] Welcome to the Komen Health Equity Revolution podcast series on Real Pink. Each month we invite patients, community organizations, healthcare providers, researchers, and policy advocates to discuss strategies and solutions that drive the health equity revolution forward for multiple populations experiencing breast health inequities.
[00:00:37] I’m your host, Adam Walker, and today we’re honoring Hispanic Heritage Month with an important conversation about culturally responsive breast health care. Latinas face unique barriers to care from language access to cultural stigma. They can impact outcomes and create added stress in an already difficult journey.
[00:00:57] Joining me today is Dr. Laura Logie of Nueva Vida , one of Komens valued community partners in a Share for Cures Alliance member to talk about the role cultural responsive care plays in breaking down these barriers, supporting Latinas through every stage of the breast cancer experience. Dr. Logie, welcome to the show.
[00:01:18] Laura Logie: Thank you so much. It’s an honor to be here today to represent Nueva Vida , which literally means new life especially during Hispanic Heritage Month. It’s a special time for Nueva Vida as Hispanic Heritage Month intersects with Breast Cancer Awareness month. Since the US Census Bureau projects over one in four Americans are likely to be Latino by the year 2060, I think that this discussion is critical in addressing inequities in cancer care.
[00:01:49] Adam Walker: I love it. I love it. I, and I agree. I think it’s a really important conversation to have. I really appreciate you being here. For it to start out share a little bit about Nueva Vida and its mission to support Latinas affected by cancer.
[00:02:01] Laura Logie: Great. Yes, absolutely. I’m so thrilled to share Nueva Vida and its mission.
[00:02:06] Well, we were founded in 19 99, 25 years by Latina breast cancer survivors to basically fill the gap for comprehensive bilingual health services in the central and South American Latina immigrant community. And we’ve grown from grassroots beginnings, and over the past 25 years, we’ve provided outreach and education,
[00:02:29] culturally affirming patient navigation, mental health support and research. So we are very strong advocates for equitable and timely access to state-of-the-art care in the cancer continuum, including prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and end of life care. And our goals at Nueva Vida address critical gaps in obtaining equitable health services for Latinas, and this is mostly due to a lack of access to integrated care,
[00:02:59] cultural barriers, limited English proficiency, discrimination, low income, lack of formal education, implicit bias, and xenophobia. And over the past 13 years, we’ve provided over 15,316 Latinas with free cancer screenings, including mammograms, pap smears, and colonoscopies. At Nueva Vida , more than 3,129, women with abnormal findings received free diagnostic exams.
[00:03:31] Importantly, we conduct outreach and nearly 2000 outreach events have reached Latinas with important information about breast cancer. Over 2,700 cancer survivors and their caregivers, very important, have found comfort in health in our free mental health support groups. Moreover, in the last three years, we provided more than $200,000 in non-medical social drivers of health to cancer survivors to help pay for things like rent, utilities, transportation, and food.
[00:04:03] And lastly, at Nueva Vida, our research department has collaborated with academic researchers on projects that have helped build the gap on much needed research related to cancer disparities.
[00:04:16] Adam Walker: Wow. That’s fantastic. You’ve done a lot of amazing work, it sounds like. I appreciate you, you sharing all that.
[00:04:21] Those numbers are astounding. Yeah. Yes. Wow. So, so tell me a little bit about cultural responsiveness and why that’s so important when we’re talking about breast health in the Latino community.
[00:04:33] Laura Logie: Yes, thank you, Adam. It’s so important. Cultural responsiveness is critical when addressing breast health in the Latina community, because it directly impacts trust, it impacts understanding and engagement and care, and approaching breast health with cultural sensitivity ensures that information is delivered in the ways that the community values, beliefs, and lived experiences are experienced.
[00:05:02] So, for example, providing bilingual education and respecting cultural norms about family decision making can reduce fear and misinformation, but it also empowers women to seek timely screening and treatments. And then ultimately, cultural responsive care builds trust and improves our communication, and it helps close some of these persistent caps that we see in breast out cancer outcomes for Latinas.
[00:05:29] So language, the language itself is very important here, and we hear different terms when we’re talking about the language of care. So it’s important for those working for the Latino community to distinguish between two terms. And so I’d like to like do a very quick definition. These two terms are culture, they’re cultural competency and cultural humility.
[00:05:50] And what is the difference between these two terms when we’re talking about the language of culturally responsive care? Well. Cultural competency is loosely defined as the ability to engage knowledgeably with people across the cultures, and it really is a product of the sixties and the seventies, and it was grounded in the climate of the civil rights movement.
[00:06:10] But in the sixties and the seventies, it became abundant in healthcare. But it had an assumption that the more knowledge we have about another person’s culture, the greater the competence in practice. However. Cultural competence also bears two main problems. It suggests that there is some kind of categorical knowledge of a person that they could attain about a group of people, which does lead to stereotyping and bias, and it denotes that there’s like an end point to becoming fully culturally competent.
[00:06:42] So now I’m fully culturally competent and I can work with the Latino community. So that is not the way we need to think about culturally responsive care. So that led to a shift from cultural competence frameworks to that of cultural humility and responsiveness. And that’s the important point I want to make here.
[00:07:00] Cultural humility involves understanding the complexity of identities that, you know, even in sameness, there is difference, and that a cancer care professional will never be fully competent about the evolving and dynamic nature of a patient’s experience. And an awareness of self is central to the notion of cultural humility.
[00:07:24] Who a person is, informs how we see each other, understanding our own biases upholding values of cultural humility, promoting health equity, and most importantly, improving access to care should be the framework we work within to meet Latina women where they are. And that really is the importance of cultural responsive care.
[00:07:47] Adam Walker: Yeah. I like I think you said did you say the word cultural humility? Is that the term that you used? Yes. I, I really like that concept because I think we tend to think, like you said before, like we, we we learn it. Okay, we got it. We figured it out, but like no. You have to be humble as you approach cultures that you’re not a part of, to recognize that they’re much more vast, I think, than we often recognize.
[00:08:12] Right.
[00:08:13] Laura Logie: Definitely. Most definitely.
[00:08:15] Adam Walker: How does Nueva Vida , in partnership with Komen work to address all of these barriers and provide support that truly meets women where they are?
[00:08:24] Laura Logie: Well, importantly, Komen and Nueva Vida have shared values, our shared values in supporting the Latino community because we know that to truly support Latinas where they are, is to make sure that we are where they are.
[00:08:38] So too many people are dying from breast cancer simply because of who they are or where they live. So our outreach goes into the neighborhoods where Latinas live, work, pray, and slay. And then in partnership with Komen, we operate under the belief that there is no physical, financial, or structural barrier that should block the access and care for preventive cancer screenings of any person.
[00:09:00] And so we need to listen to our Latina communities, respect their lived experience and make sure everyone feels empowered and then has the knowledge and support to protect their breast health. So together, Komen and Nueva Vida is essential that we meet communities where they are both geographically and culturally to close this equity gap.
[00:09:21] Adam Walker: I, I love that concept of meeting them where they are. I really appreciate you sharing that. In particular it’s and the shared values, of course, I totally agree, but the meeting communities where they are is just so critical and that’s why we’re trying to have this conversation. So what are some other ways that Nueva Vida offers community support in the cancer space?
[00:09:42] Laura Logie: So a couple of ways. One thing right now, we offer community support through our programs and research. Including a recent program, Neva Esperanza, which addresses disparities via a patient-centered approach to the cancer care journey through culturally affirming patient navigation and supportive services for metastatic breast cancer, thrivers and their caregivers.
[00:10:06] We work in partnership with Lombardi Cancer Center and an NCI funded study to address barriers to genetic testing and follow up care among diverse Latina women at risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Most recently, we were recognized for our culturally affirming patient navigation best practices, and we’re using that knowledge to support access to medically under-resourced Latinas into clinical trials
[00:10:29] in partnership with the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention, and then importantly with Komen, our partnership was shared for cures, elevates the voices, and lived experiences of Latinas affected by breast cancer and emphasizes the critical importance. Cultural responsive care, language access and trust building and research engagement.
[00:10:52] Adam Walker: Wow. That’s fantastic. You’re, I, there’s, you’re doing so much good work and I appreciate you sharing all that. So, so let me ask you for an example just to kind of, you know, I think in stories, right? So, so some kind of example I think would be helpful. So can you share an example of a time.
[00:11:10] When culturally responsive care made a significant difference for someone navigating their breast cancer experience?
[00:11:17] Laura Logie: Absolutely. Sure. Happy to do that. So let me share a story about Marisol not her real name, but Marisol age 43 is originally from El Salvador, el Salvador, and she is a single mother of two children.
[00:11:34] And she sought help with Nueva Vida because she had a breast lump. No insurance and of course had never had a mammogram and so immediately our bilingual Latina patient navigator Anna, schedules a screening mammogram. Subsequently, she was referred for a diagnostic mammogram and biopsy, which unfortunately came back positive for invasive triple negative breast cancer stage three.
[00:11:58] So how did we take her through this culturally, this journey in a culturally responsive way? Well, we supported her in financial assistance paperwork. We provided genetic testing because she was a woman under 50 years of age and had a triple negative breast cancer diagnose. Which did come back positive for the BRCA two gene.
[00:12:17] And so utilizing this kind of culturally responsive, and I would also say affirming care, Anna was able to assert impactful trust, like in filling out the financial forms for cancer care, providing transportation and accompaniment for medical interpretation. She supports Marisol and her entire family, which is very important with questions and concerns, all in a way that respects Marisol’s, community values, marisol’s beliefs, and Marisol’s lived experiences.
[00:12:50] Adam Walker: I love that. That’s beautiful. Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that. So, going back to Hispanic Heritage Month, as we’re reflecting on this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month theme. Collective heritage, honoring the past, inspiring the future, what does that mean to you in the context of breast health?
[00:13:12] Laura Logie: Wow. I mean, it means so much.
[00:13:15] But to me this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month theme is really a powerful reminder that breast health is not just an individual responsibility, but it’s a shared legacy. Honoring the past means that we have to acknowledge the struggles and barriers. Latinas have faced limited access to care and fear while also celebrating the resilience of the women who have paved the way for greater awareness and advocacy.
[00:13:44] Inspiring the future means breaking these cycles of silence and empowering Latinos to take charge of their health, and importantly, ensuring that the next generation, has the knowledge, resources, and culturally responsive care that they deserve. And so this theme to me means when we come together as a community, we transform breast health from a private struggle into a collective movement of strength, hope, and lasting impact.
[00:14:14] And that is honoring the past, that inspiring the future.
[00:14:19] Adam Walker: I love how you put that as a moving it from the, a community issue to a, an individual issue to a community issue, right? Yes. And I think that’s so important for us to reframe that so that we’re benefiting the whole community and raising awareness for the whole community.
[00:14:35] Right. Exactly. So I Exactly. I really appreciate you sharing that. What last question. What message do you want Latinas that are listening to this podcast today to take away about advocating for their own breast health?
[00:14:50] Laura Logie: So I want Latinas to know that they have the power to be strong advocates for their breast health.
[00:14:58] And that begins, number one, with their knowledge and health is worth prioritizing. Speaking up, asking questions, seeking answered in their preferred language is not just a right, it is a powerful act of self-care and self-respect. So. Making time for regular screenings and learning family history are tools of empowerment that can save lives, including their own.
[00:15:23] So reaching out to trusted providers. Community organizations like the Wave of Vida and Support networks ensure that they’re never alone in this journey. And by putting their health first, Latinas not only protect themselves, but then they also inspire their families and communities to do the same. And in this way, we’re really creating a ripple effect of strength.
[00:15:43] Resilience and hope, and that’s the message I want Latinos to have. Prioritizing their health should come first.
[00:15:51] Adam Walker: That’s powerful. That’s a powerful message. And that’s a great final thought. Laura I appreciate you coming on the show today. I appreciate you giving us some education and encouraging us to humility and appreciate just all of the amazing work that you’re doing for the Latino community and also for the breast cancer community as well.
[00:16:11] Laura Logie: Thank you.
[00:16:12] Adam Walker: Laura, thank you so much for joining us today and for the work you and Nueva Vida are doing to ensure Latinas facing breast cancer receive care that honors their culture, their language, and their lived experience. Thank you listeners for joining another episode of the Komen Health Equity Revolution podcast series.
[00:16:32] Let’s continue to galvanize the breast cancer community to support multiple populations experiencing breast health inequities to advance and achieve breast health equity for all. For our listeners, if you’d like to learn more about culturally responsive breast health resources, visit komen.org/espanol.
[00:16:52] Call the Komen Patient Care Center at 1 8 7 7 Go Komen to connect with a patient navigator or email helpline@komen.org to get started today.
[00:17:09] Thanks for listening to Real Pink, a weekly podcast by Susan G Komen. For more episodes, visit Real Pink.Komen.org. And for more on breast cancer, visit Komen.org. Make sure to check out. At Susan G Komen on social media, I’m your host, Adam. You can find me on Twitter at AJ Walker or on my blog, adam j walker.com.