{"id":35340,"date":"2023-09-26T22:23:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hereforthegirls.org\/?p=35340"},"modified":"2023-08-28T22:41:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T22:41:20","slug":"embrace-socioeconomic-status-and-breast-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hereforthegirls.org\/embrace-socioeconomic-status-and-breast-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Embrace: Socioeconomic Status and Breast Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Disclaimer statement: The information and resources contained within this document are for educational purposes only. Please make sure to discuss any resources with the Here for the Girls Team. This information should not be used for self-diagnosis or treatment. This information should not be used in lieu of care from a licensed physician or mental health practitioner. Although the content of the resources has been reviewed by the Here for the Girls Team, you should use caution whenever accessing or referring to information from outside sources, including the Internet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an organization dedicated to improving the lives of young women, H4TG will be providing insight into the impact socioeconomic status and access to healthcare services has on breast cancer diagnoses. Socioeconomic status, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is \u201cthe position of an individual or group on the socioeconomic scale, which is determined by a combination of social and economic factors such as income, amount, and kind of education,\u201d (n.d.). As it relates to healthcare, socioeconomic status has proven to be a social determinant in access to quality healthcare services. The National Cancer Institute (NCI, 2022) reported that individuals that reside within a lower socioeconomic status and have lower rates of health literacy are more at-risk of not receiving cancer screenings, such as mammograms. Additionally, individuals who have limited access to healthcare services are at an increased risk of having a later stage diagnosis (NCI, 2022). For example, the Susan G. Komen Foundation highlighted that \u201cwomen who have health insurance are more likely than women who don\u2019t have health insurance to get mammograms.\u201d (2023) There is still minimal research on the impact socioeconomic status has on breast cancer diagnoses. However, there are additional risk factors, such as environment, age, race\/ethnicity, and family history, that can place individuals at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. These risk factors are categorized as social determinants of health. The office of Disease Prevention and Health Prevention defines social determinants of health as \u201cthe conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life-outcomes.\u201d Dr. Sonya Reid spoke with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (2023) about social determinants of health and how it relates to breast cancer. Dr. Sonya Reid highlighted that the issue is multifaceted as multiple risk factors can impact just one individual. Further, she explained that breast cancer diagnoses and care is \u201cbased on a lot of societal discrimination that we see when it comes to access to care as well as comorbidities that start from prevention, screening, and all the continuum of care that we see.\u201d (BCRF, 2023) You can listen to the full podcast here<\/a>. <\/em>BreastCancer reported on a study that examined the impact of social determinants with a pool of 60,137 women diagnosed with breast cancer (DePolo, 2023). The study concluded that social determinants contributed to disparities in healthcare services as it relates to breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H4TG has compiled a list of external resources that discusses further risk factors and steps to take in addressing risk factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n