Cover: Maintaining Mammography Adherence Through Telephone Counseling in a Church-Based Trial

Maintaining Mammography Adherence Through Telephone Counseling in a Church-Based Trial

Published in: American Journal of Public Health, v. 90, no. 9, Sep. 2000, p. 1468-1471

Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 2000

by Naihua Duan, Sarah Fox, Kathryn Pitkin Derose, Sally Carson

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effectiveness of telephone counseling in a church-based mammography promotion intervention trial. METHODS: Thirty churches were randomized to telephone counseling and control conditions; telephone interview data were used in assessing intervention effects on mammography adherence. Separate analyses were conducted for baseline-adherent participants (maintaining adherence) and baseline-nonadherent participants (conversion to adherence). RESULTS: Year 1 follow-up data indicated that the telephone counseling intervention maintained mammography adherence among baseline-adherent participants and reduced the nonadherence rate form 23% to 16%. CONCLUSIONS: Partnerships between the public health and faith communities are potentially effective conduits to promote maintenance of widely endorsed health behaviors such as regular cancer screening.

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