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University of Iowa researchers help with cancer prevention in West Liberty
Erin Jordan
Dec. 23, 2015 9:12 pm
Jason Daniel-Ulloa, a research scientist in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, thought he'd be working to improve men's health when he started a research project in West Liberty.
But the community, which is more than half Latino, convinced him otherwise.
'Some members of the community said cervical cancer was hitting the community hard,' Daniel-Ulloa said. 'So we got some funding to do HPV vaccination education.'
Daniel-Ulloa is among THE UI researchers who focus on community-based participatory research, a field of study that involves working with a community to identify research questions that will yield answers to help the community.
'It's not a method, it's a philosophy,' said Barbara Baquero, an assistant UI professor in community and behavioral health and Daniel-Ulloa's wife.
UI researchers' first effort in West Liberty was a 'photovoice' project in which community members developed photo assignments, such as 'what are the barriers to cancer prevention in our community?' Participants went out with cameras to take photos, which they later discussed as a group.
When residents spoke out about the project, Daniel-Ulloa and others heard an outcry about cervical cancer.
'We had several cervical cancer deaths,' said Rev. Greg Steckel, a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in West Liberty who has helped facilitate the UI research. 'One woman was under 40 and had five kids.'
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually-transmitted disease believed to cause about 90 percent of all cervical cancer in the United States, as well as other types of cancer. The HPV vaccine is recommended for children ages 11 to 15.
But many West Liberty residents — mostly Latinas — surveyed by Daniel-Ulloa and his team didn't understand why the vaccine could reduce the risk for cervical cancer or had misinformation about the HPV vaccine, he said.
'What they were getting (about HPV) was from Spanish language TV, which can be pretty dramatic,' Daniel-Ulloa said.
News stories last year about dozens of teenage girls from Colombia blaming the HPV vaccine for symptoms that included cold feet, convulsions and fainting caused fear, but, ultimately, no links were found between the vaccine and the girls' symptoms, according to the Daily Mail.
Small-group education sessions in West Liberty helped dispel misconceptions about the HPV vaccine, Daniel-Ulloa said.
Now the team wants to help residents get vaccinated. Which is where the UI Mobile Clinic comes in.
The Mobile Clinic is run by UI students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and other disciplines to provide free basic health services and screening to underserved populations. The clinic sets up once a month at the West Liberty Middle School.
'It's definitely a population that needs access to health care,' said Dr. Denise Martinez, Mobile Clinic co-director and associate professor family medicine. She also lives in West Liberty.
Daniel-Ulloa is talking with West Liberty pharmacies to find a way to provide the HPV vaccine for free to Mobile Clinic patients.
Steckel said he's glad to promote the research with parishioners.
'Cancer is a dirty word in the Spanish-speaking community,' said Steckel, himself a colon cancer survivor. People tend to keep quiet about the disease because they blame themselves for lifestyle choices, he said. But repeated discussions, both in the church and outside it, help with social acceptance, he added.
'HPV is kind of a strange thing to talk about in church, but it's also a very appropriate place,' Steckel said. 'A public health perspective is very close to the heart of the Catholic Church.'