Community Health Advisors in Action Program (CHAAP)

The Community Health Advisors in Action Program (CHAAP), funded by the Avon Foundation, under Principal Investigator Mona Fouad, MD, MPH, is a pilot study that uses trained community volunteers to assist underserved women who receive an abnormal breast cancer screen in adhering to follow-up recommendations from their physicians. The purpose of this project is to develop, implement, and evaluate a community-based intervention to reduce the disparity in breast cancer mortality between underserved and low-income African-American women and Caucasian women. The program assists women who have been screened for breast cancer and found to have an abnormal test or confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer by helping them access appropriate care and adhere to recommended medical follow-up and/or treatment. The intervention is based on the community empowerment and Community Health Advisors Network (CHAN) models. A network of community volunteers are trained to serve as health system navigators to support women who are in need of case management or peer navigation services. The targeted women are medically underserved individuals who reside in four selected rural or urban counties in Alabama