PROJECT
REACH—A South Dakota Success!
Raising
Educator Awareness Concerning Health
Project
REACH, a breast and cervical cancer prevention and awareness program developed
by the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN),
became the first health-related program of the South Dakota Education
Association/NEA. South Dakota was
one of the five states selected to take part in the program.
Thanks to funding from the Centers for Disease
Control & Prevention, NEA HIN and the SDEA/NEA Office of Educational
Innovation (OEI) have been able to work collaboratively to offer this program
designed by and for school employees. Breast
and cervical cancer awareness programs are important for school employees since
some studies found that teachers may have a higher rate of death from breast
cancer than women in other occupations. “This
unique training opportunity is designed to give school employees the skills,
resources and support needed to design local cancer education programs in their
school community”, explained Rena Large, NEA HIN.
Many steps were taken to get Project REACH off the
ground. Janet Wilson, Executive Director of SDEA/NEA OEI formed an advisory
committee and a local planning committee that helped establish goals and
determine membership needs. Support and assistance of other key partners - the
American Cancer Society, that provides outreach and community education
programs, and the South Dakota BCCEDP, that coordinates service providers,
screenings and tracking of women who qualify for services such as mammograms and
PAP smears, were also essential in making this program a success.
These partners also guided OEI in selecting the
target area – the southeastern part of South Dakota. School districts in the area were invited to take part in the
program. The seven districts
involved with Project REACH included Brookings, Dell Rapids, Hanson Co., Lennox,
Sioux Falls, Sioux Valley, and West Central. The districts formed intervention
teams consisting of 4 – 8 educational employees representing various
occupations such as school administrators, support personnel, teachers, school
nurses or others involved with health and wellness programs.
In April 2000, teams from the seven pilot sites
attended the Project REACH training. The program goals included increasing
awareness and knowledge of basic cancer information and personal cancer risks,
increasing team and community collaboration skills and linking teams with
community resources and services.The teams planned their own local Project REACH
project. As a result, enthusiasm grew for the promotion of Project REACH and
each team implemented their plan within their district and community.
Brookings
team members integrated Project REACH into their Coordinated School Health
program. In October, the team
conducted a pink ribbon campaign and distributed calendars, bookmarks and fact
sheets about breast and cervical cancer to the staff.
They also distributed All Women
Count! coupons and posters throughout their community.
As a major event, they hosted a panel discussion on breast and cervical
cancer for female staff and community members and a panel discussion on prostate
and colon cancer for male staff and community members. SDSU students majoring in
nursing assisted with booths and displays and speakers from the local community
and Avera McKennan Hospital assisted in the program.
The Brookings team received additional funds for the panel discussion
from the NEA HIN Vivian Roy Bowser Cancer Education Fund.
About that same time, West Central’s team was busy making salads and desserts for Women’s
Night Out. Dinner tickets were
sold out with approximately 80 community and staff members coming together to
learn about breast and cervical cancer. The
team had a great time hosting the event with team members designing their own
table theme, which included Barbie, Halloween, Mother Earth and many more.
Avera McKennan Hospital and local team members shared information
throughout the evening.
Dell Rapids introduced
their staff to Project REACH over breakfast and incorporated Denim Days, a big
hit with the staff. They also researched questions regarding insurance coverage.
Sioux Valley team members distributed
pink ribbons and calendars to their staff. The Lennox team members displayed information at the staff in-service,
had Denim Days in October and distributed NEA HIN calendars with paychecks. This
month they will continue their efforts by distributing “Beads Of Life”
necklaces to their staff members.
On behalf of the 3,000 employees in the Sioux
Falls District, twelve educational employees and two students joined in to
assist with Project REACH.
With a $2,000 grant from NEA HIN’s Vivian Roy
Bowser Cancer Education Fund, and a $200 gift from Medical X-Ray Center in Sioux
Falls, the Sioux Falls Team put together a “Celebration of Smiles” poster
honoring twenty-three cancer survivors employed by the Sioux Falls School
District. This poster, including a
list of information resources ranging from local clinics and cancer institutes
to the NEA HIN Web site (www.neahin.org),
was enclosed in the Fall 2000 Back-to-School mailing to all District employees.
Sandra Schlenker, the team leader said, “I am so
pleased that these people willingly came forward to be included in this
celebration photo. I have heard
many positive responses from individuals who received this mailing.
A number of them have indicated that this message served as a
motivational tool in seeking personal health consultations.”
Projects carried out by the Sioux Falls team included
providing health information booths at the Back-to-School General Session;
distributing reminder calendars, bead necklaces, and emery boards to district
employees; promoting employee attendance at the Sioux Valley Breast Health
Endowment Fundraiser featuring Lillie Shockney; and sharing Project REACH
information with Sioux Falls Retired Educators Group.
The Sioux Falls Team offers the following Words of
Wisdom: “School employees are
notorious for nurturing others at the expense of their own health.
In promoting Project REACH, we want to encourage educators to seek health
information and early detection through local screening facilities.
We also want to instill hope and confidence with regard to personal
health issues. When screenable
cancers are found early, treatment is more likely to be successful.
Self-examinations for cancers of the breast and skin may result in
detection of tumors at earlier stages. The
5-year relative survival rate for screenable cancers is about 81%.
But, if all Americans participated in regular screenings, this rate could
increase to more than 95%.”
Hanson County found
that being a part of the Project REACH team was an eye opener for them and it
enabled them to open the eyes of their community members.
The activities centered on already existing school activities, making it
convenient to display and discuss Project REACH information.
The team set up a booth at their Health/Career Fair for high school
students and community members. They
used the display board, breast model, pamphlets, and bead necklaces, attracting
much attention. They also set up
information tables with the bead necklaces and pamphlets at the Homecoming Pie
Social and at Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Otober was a great month for activities since it was
Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Posters,
stickers, coupons and table tents were available for the entire Hanson County
School staff in their workroom. During
Staff Meetings, the bead necklaces and pocket calendars were given out with a
brief discussion about Project REACH. The “Beads Of Life” necklaces were a
big hit as far as making it more concrete for others to understand the
importance of mammography. Many
were made aware that this is not only an issue for women, but for men and
families as well, since it affects so many lives of those involved. The team members believe this important health issue needs
the attention and awareness that Project REACH was able to provide.
Celebration
Dinner Held
In
appreciation of the work each team did to implement their program and to
increase awareness and prevention of breast and cervical cancer, a Celebration
Dinner was held. Each team member
was honored and recognized for implementing Project REACH. They received a
certificate and an Avon breast cancer pin.
The teams also received reference materials for their school’s
professional library.
South Dakota is the only state that successfully
implemented the Project REACH program. In
recognition of that success, Rena Large, NEA HIN, presented a plaque to Janet
Wilson in appreciation of her outstanding commitment to the project.
“Many individuals across the state joined hands to
make this project successful in South Dakota,” explained Janet Wilson.
“NEA HIN, American Cancer Society, South Dakota BCCEDP, the statewide
advisory and local planning committees, and each and every person working at the
local level helped us achieve the goal of increasing the awareness and
prevention of breast and cervical cancer for educational employees.”
In addition, SDEA/NEA was presented the Partnership
Award by the South Dakota All Women
Count!, a program that provides screening services for eligible women in
South Dakota. Janet Wilson also
received the personal honor of being named as the most successful partnership
with an individual award recipient.