A Bloomington doctor is concerned about cervical cancer mortality rates among Hispanic women.
Dr. Jermy Crespo, family medicine physician at Chestnut Family Health Center in Bloomington, said he noticed a gap of between five and seven years in pap smear screenings among his Spanish-speaking patients.
The Centers for Disease Control reports Hispanic women have the second highest rate of dying from cervical cancer, after non-Hispanic Black women.
A study conducted by The National Institutes of Health identified community-based participatory interventions along with lay health advisors as 'having the greatest potential for improving cervical cancer screenings among Hispanics/Latinas."
To increase cervical cancer screening awareness, Crespo is hosting a presentation in Spanish to educate the Hispanic community in the Twin Cities.
“I’ve tailored the presentation for this population. I want to talk to them about why it’s important to not delay care,” Crespo said, adding there’s a high chance that screenings can change the outcome of care if malignancy is caught on time. “If patients don’t have an established primary care physician, then you delay screening."
Health inequities like lack of insurance and little reproductive health education are partly to blame for delaying PCP care, he said.
“Another reason is perhaps they shy away or don’t feel comfortable with someone who doesn’t speak their language," Crespo said.
A factor he hopes to change, "Spanish is my first language, and the clinic offers a language line as well."
As a family care provider, he said he also helps patients with hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, he said, "and if a patient needs additional testing or a referral, we follow-up thoroughly."
Crespo will host the presentation on cervical cancer screenings at Chestnut Family Health Center in Bloomington at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2.
Puedes ver el video de abajo también en español.
