Project Aims

The purpose of developing these workshops is to empower the Muslim community to make informed decisions by:

1. Filling critical gaps in knowledge about how Islam influences cancer screening behaviors
2. Providing a model for how to partner with mosque communities to conduct a culturally-tailored mammography promoting program.

This study is a collaboration between the Initiative on Islam and Medicine at the University of Chicago and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago with support from the American Cancer Society.

This project was supported by a Mentored Research Scholar Grant (MRSG-14-032-01-CPPB) from the American Cancer Society, an Institutional Research Grant (no. 58-004) from the American Cancer Society, and a Cancer Center Support Grant (no. P30 CA14599) from the National Cancer Institute. Data warehousing was supported by the REDCap project at the University of Chicago, managed by the Center for Research Informatics, and funded by the Biological Sciences Division and the Institute for Translational Medicine CTSA Grant (UL1 RR024999). 

Why American Muslims?

Why Mammography?

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American women, and screening mammography is a proven method to reduce mortality from this cancer. In 2015 while 65.3% of U.S. women above 40 had a mammogram, lower rates were observed among racial and ethnic minorities. Muslim women have low rates of mammography.

Community surveys reveal:

• 37% of women (n=254) in the Chicago area had not obtained a mammogram in the last 2 years
• 42% of Arab women (n=365) from Detroit reported not having a mammogram every 1-2 years

Developing Religiously Tailored, Evidence-Based Health Education for Muslim American Women

Community Partnership Building

• Council of Islamic Organizatons of Greater Chicago
• Muslim Women Resource Center
• Arab American Family Services
• Compassionate Care Network

Evidence Gathering 

• Phase 1: Community Surveys
• Phase 2: Mosque-based Focus Groups 
• Phase 3: Key Informant Interviews

Tailored Intervention Design and Deployment

• Caring for Body & Soul Workshops
• Group Education Manual – Replication Guide

 Workshop Structure

• 2 half-day sessions were held at Muslim Education Center and Orland Park Prayer Center
• Peer-educators and guest lecturers, including a religious scholar and female physician,  delivered didactics and facilitated discussion sessions on: breast cancer, mammography screening guidelines, religion and health, accessing resources for breast cancer screening

 Methods for Addressing Barrier Beliefs: The 3R Model

Reframe: “switch train tracks”

• Keep the belief intact but change the way one thinks about it so it is consonant with the desired health behavior  
• Normalizes the barrier belief

Reprioritize: “show them a better train”

• Introduce a new belief and create higher valence for it than the barrier belief
• Normalization of the barrier belief is optional

Reform: “breakdown the train carriage”

• Negate the barrier belief by demonstrating its faults by appealing to authority structures

 Results

Of the 58 participants in workshop: 

• Demographics  35% of participants were of Arab decent
  • 52% of participants were of South Asian decent 
  • 37% of participants annual income was below poverty level

• Mammography
  • 27/58 participants had NOT had mammogram in the past 2 years. 
  • 29/58 participants had NEVER had a mammogram

Within 1 year after this workshop:

• 22 participants (38%) had received  a mammogram within one year of the classes