TAKING INITIATIVE — Vanessa Palmer, left, doctor of nursing practice and Diversity Health Initiative founder, held a wreath with the program’s logo alongside Ohio Valley Health Center Executive Director Ann Quillen, center, and Debbie Stanton, program officer for the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — It’s a complex issue, and not one that can be solved overnight: Black women’s higher breast cancer mortality rate compared to white women.

Published in the American Cancer Society’s flagship journal, “Cancer Statistics for African American/Black People 2022” found that Black women, despite having a lower incidence rate, are 41 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than white women.

This wide disparity reflects later stage diagnosis in Black women and lower five-year survival overall and for every stage of disease, the report states, adding, “Targeted interventions are needed to reduce stark cancer inequalities in the Black community.”

One such intervention has been at work in Jefferson County for several years, changing attitudes and perspectives to fill health gaps in the local Black community.

The Diversity Health Initiative, a collaborative program with the Ohio Valley Health Center, informs Black women and girls about the importance of early intervention to combat health disparities evident in statistics. Through outreach events and teaching sessions at the OVHC, local schools and elsewhere, the DHI has educated hundreds of women about healthy behaviors and screenings to protect themselves and their loved ones.

“I’m wanting to save lives, especially of Black women because we know statistically what happens,” said DHI founder Vanessa Palmer. “We want them to know there’s hope. Women need to know there is hope.”

Palmer worked as a school nurse for 30 years at her alma mater, Steubenville High School. Having achieved her master’s in nursing from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Palmer was encouraged to pursue a doctorate in nursing practice by one of her mentors.

During her studies, Palmer was asked a pivotal question by her adviser: “What are you going to do with your life now?” Palmer pondered this and was drawn to some research she’d found — the disproportionate rate at which Black women were dying of breast cancer.

Palmer, who was doing an internship at Trinity Health System’s Images Mammography Center at the time, recognized a gap in local nursing services. There wasn’t yet a program that helped Black women understand the need for mammograms. She sought to fill that gap by providing community members with targeted education.

The breast cancer advocacy and patient navigation organization Susan G. Komen provided Palmer with a curriculum for women ages 40 and older, geared toward cultural competency and breaking down barriers between minority people and the health care they need. The curriculum conveyed four key messages: Get screened, know your family history, practice healthy habits and know your body.

Palmer engaged with various groups and organizations, asking if they’d host her program. Her work attracted enthusiasm, especially among local church congregations, but the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset put plans on hold.

Partnered with Urban Mission Ministries Inc., Palmer continued to provide breast cancer education via social media, and she contributed to the Mission’s National Minority Health Month activities. It was at one of those activities that Palmer connected with Ohio Valley Health Center Executive Director Ann Quillen, with whom she shared the reason for her prevention work.

“I cried about it,” Quillen said of Black women’s cancer death disparity. “It struck me as so ridiculous, that it is just about access and being sensitive to cultural differences. And we can do better, and we need to do better.”

Palmer had been looking for an office to act as her home base, and Quillen offered her a spot in the OVHC’s clinic on South Street in Steubenville. The OVHC also helped Palmer adapt her outline of ideas into a grant application, to take her work to the next level.

An application went before the Women’s Giving Circle, a funding initiative for causes that benefit women and girls in Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Tyler, and Wetzel counties in West Virginia and Belmont and Jefferson counties in Ohio. More than 100 local women contribute to the giving circle, which distributes yearly grants and operates an endowment for perpetual giving.

Administered by the Community foundation for the Ohio Valley, the giving circle has several focus areas, including promotion of young girls’ healthy development. Debbie Stanton, CFOV program officer, said the DHI’s proposal resonated with the giving circle’s desires.

“It’s health care for women and girls,” she said. “It definitely hits on that mission of the fund. And I particularly like it, as a program officer, because it helps someone help others. … And it’s not it is not just one-and-done. This is a lifetime of changing women’s thinking process.”

Awarded $6,700 by the WGC for 2022-2023, the DHI could expand its scope and reach more individuals. Awards continued annually, with $5,200 for 2023-2024 and $4,000 for 2024-2025. Palmer and the OVHC have expressed gratitude for the WGC’s support and see the partnership as a stepping stone to larger funding opportunities.

Previously, the DHI helped facilitate one free mammogram screening event per year, commemorating Minority Health Month. The WGC’s funding allowed for more community events spread through June, National Cancer Survivor Month, and October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Apart from events, Palmer hosts teaching sessions for local women at the OVHC, imparting lessons about prevention, breast health, nutrition, exercise and more. She’s aided by nurse practitioner Tikisha Moore, who brings her added experience as a renal nurse.

The two also present to girls at local schools — something Palmer had always hoped to do but wasn’t able to until the WGC’s contributions began. Presentations began at Steubenville High School and have since expanded to Jefferson County Joint Vocational School, Indian Creek High School and Buckeye Local High School.

Girls who participate have been very receptive, asking questions and sharing what they learn, Palmer said.

“They really, really want to know. … I had a young lady say to me: ‘I didn’t understand about the alcohol and how it can predispose a woman to breast cancer.’ She said, ‘I’m going home to talk to my family. We have a lot of breast cancer in our family.'”

Palmer said she’s excited this year to share a program entitled “The Right Fit,” teaching girls about bras and the critical protection they provide for youth who are more active than ever.

Sessions at the OVHC and schools all utilize the Susan G. Komen curriculum, which has educational resources for women of different age groups.

The DHI has collaborated with other organizations, including the YMCA and local churches, to share the message of prevention with more individuals.

The DHI’s impact has extended to men as well, Quillen said, noting that early intervention is key to changing health outcomes.

“We have had more young African American men become patients than we’ve ever had before because (their relatives) have gone through the DHI program. Their grandmas and their moms and their aunties are saying, ‘Go to the health center.'”

Quillen said she’s grateful for the OVHC’s working relationship with the DHI, which has reached an increasing number of women each year: 500 in 2022-2023, 700 in 2023-2024 and 740 in 2024-2025. That includes every woman who’s been part of a screening, education program or other effort.

Palmer reciprocated Quillen’s gratitude, thanking the OVHC for the opportunity to give back to her community.

“If you look at the numbers of screenings and the interactions that you gain from the classes that I give, it’s helping me to understand that we need to continue because they are hungry for this information, believe it or not, and they want to be able to relate to someone that looks like them,” Palmer said.

Stanton added that the DHI is leaving a legacy of changed attitudes and perspectives that will save lives in the long term.

“How much it’s grown, how successful it’s been and that you can show the success of the program and now go after other funds for it — that’s so exciting,” she said.

Palmer said the DHI’s success can be measured in stages. The short-term reach and resource utilization has been positive, and women have been repeatedly receptive over the intermediate course of time.

“Long term, it’s going to take at least five years. But what we do know is that women are getting screened. And what I’m looking for is that if they are positive, if they have something wrong, what I have found is that they do come back and they’ll say, ‘Will you help me understand what’s wrong with this?’ They don’t just forget about it. They want help. And in the long term, we want to save lives. That is the purpose for early screening.”

Anyone wishing to connect with the DHI can call the OVHC at (740) 283-2856, ask for Palmer and leave a message.