Will Asian Women Call a Telephone Health Information Service?

Abstract

AAPI women have the lowest breast cancer screening rates of all U.S. women. Barriers to screening include access, culture, and language. Previous focus group studies have shown little use of telephone hotlines among Asians. However, this report indicates that media promotions in Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Korean can result in a major increase in calls to a California statewide telephone service. Calls from women speaking Asian languages to the California Breast Cancer Early Detection Program Consumer 800 Number increased from an average of 24 per month to 576 in June 2001 in response to paid newspaper and radio advertisements in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area.