Improving breast cancer screening for women who identify as Black or African American
Collective Conversations
Collective Conversations is a series of discussions aimed at highlighting people and groups working to improve health through better health care systems.
Nkem Akinsoto, assistant director for primary care and population health, and Dr. Victoria Fang, clinical associate professor (General Internal Medicine) and medical director for primary care and population health, joined Collective Conversations to discuss the work and community partnerships they've fostered to improve breast cancer screening for women who identify as Black or African American, and provide actionable insights on how to engage with community members we wish to serve.
"We know that there is inequity in how cancer screening in general is delivered in our communities and in the mortality rates for cancer in our communities. And so, this project around improving breast cancer screening equity for women who identify as Black or African American is right at the heart of the work that I’ve taken on.
We know that breast cancer is a leading cause of death in women between ages 45 and 84. We know that 1 out of 8 women will get breast cancer. And we know that the mortality rates for Black women is 40% higher than for White women for breast cancer. So, this particular project is a high-impact project for us to be doing for population health."
Nkem Akinsoto is the Assistant Director at UW Medicine Primary Care and Population Health. She provides programmatic oversight for programs to support UW Medicine’s shift to wellness, disease prevention, and achieving population health goals. Nkem is responsible for implementing strategies to achieve success in key population health-focused metrics at the UW Medicine Primary Care Clinics. She monitors the progress of priority quality measures, develops and maintains visibility for their reporting. Nkem has several years of experience working in health care and population health. She has been in various positions supporting Process and Quality Improvement for UW Medicine’s Population Health programs since 2016. Nkem received her Bachelor of Science in Applied Biology from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria, and a Master of Science Degree in Public Health Research from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dr. Victoria Bobrycki Fang is the Medical Director for Primary Care and Population Health at the University of Washington. She directs medical care delivered in a network of 15 primary clinics located throughout King County and in San Juan County. Partnering with Nkem Akinsoto, she is working on outreach to populations served by UW Medicine and on improving equity in health care. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Harvard University, medical degree at Tufts University and completed internal medicine training at the University of California in San Diego. She has practiced as a primary care internist for the past 20 years at the UW Federal Way Clinic.