Our Community Need

Prioritized Gaps/Unmet Needs from Our Community Profile Analysis

Download the 2010 Community Profile

Introduction

Executive Summary  

Founded in 2006, Upper Cumberland Susan G. Komen for the Cure©  serves a 14-county area in Middle Tennessee known as the Upper Cumberland region. It includes Putnam, Overton, White, Cumberland, Pickett, Fentress, Clay, Jackson, Macon, Smith, DeKalb, Cannon, Warren and Van Buren counties. Each year the Affiliate's signature event, Komen Upper Cumberland Race for the Cure© , and our golf tournament, Tee It Up For the Cure© , provide strategic funding for local breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment programs. From 2007-2011, $455,000 has been awarded by the Upper Cumberland Affiliate in Community Grants to local nonprofit organizations for breast cancer education, screening, and treatment support programs.

The Upper Cumberland Affiliate is headed by the Board President and overseen by the Board of Directors, presently ten in number. There are seven committees that handle marketing, fund development, grants, finance, education, race, and golf. Additionally, the Affiliate has one staff member, an Affiliate Coordinator.

Komen Upper Cumberland relies on the Community Profile (CP) process to guide its work. The Community Profile involves a local overview of demographic and breast cancer statistics that highlight target areas, groups, and issues. These statistics help identify where efforts will have the most impact. In order to ensure effective and targeted efforts, it is important to understand existing programs and services, as well as gaps, needs, and barriers that exist at present in our particular area. The Community Profile also includes an analysis of the local community achieved by including the voices of those individuals living in the Upper Cumberland and representing priority populations.

Overview Demographic and Breast Cancer Statistics Key Findings

The Upper Cumberland Affiliate (UCA) of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure includes 14 counties located in within a rough triangle formed between Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The counties are Putnam, Overton, White, Cumberland, Pickett, Fentress, Clay, Jackson, Macon, Smith DeKalb, Cannon, Warren and Van Buren. This region is populated by some 326,228 residents in an area of 5,093 square miles. 

There is a total 2009 population of 326,228 residents, 168,345 of them are female. The total number of women over the age of 40 is 84,613. The ethnicity breakdown of the total population is as follows:  93.2 percent White, 3.4 percent Hispanic, 1.6 percent African American, 0.6 percent Asian, 1.1 percent other ethnic groups (Thompson Reuters© 2009). 

The largest county, Putnam, contains some 81,519 residents while Pickett, the smallest has some 5000 citizens. There has been a steady out-migration of working age population in recent years as well as an influx of older people to retirement communities that have sprung up in the Cumberland region. Pleasant climate, lack of crime, low cost of living and ready access to the outdoors has been accounted for this influx. This region has been included in the US News & World Report list of ten most desirable places to retire in recent years.

The breast cancer incidence for the Upper Cumberland region is 112.87 per 100K per year, which is slightly less than that of Tennessee as a whole at 117.2 per 100K per year. The incidence ranges from a high of 132.72/year in Cumberland County to a low of 97 cases per 100k/year in Macon County. Breast Cancer mortality for the Upper Cumberland Region is 29.84 per 100k/year, which is slightly higher than that of Tennessee taken as a whole at 28 per 100k/year. Smith County reported the highest mortality at 36.31 per 100k/year, followed by Warren County at 35.33 per 100k/year, and Pickett County at 33.98 per 100k/year. (Thompson Reuters© , 2009).

Health System Analysis Overview

There are twelve mammography facilities in the Upper Cumberland Region (UCR) in eleven of the counties. There are two hospitals that have Cancer Centers but to date none of them offer complete comprehensive care for breast cancer patients. The smaller hospitals in nine counties offer limited, if any, cancer services. There are only a few support services available in the UC. Travel is one of the major barriers to being screened and receiving treatment. Some UC residents must travel two hours to receive breast health care. There is both a lack of service availability and knowledge of services actually existent in the Upper Cumberland.

Qualitative Data Overview

Interviews with key informants indicate that there is a general need for information about breast cancer screening and treatment. There is a further need among providers what UC Komen has to offer them as they confront breast health issues with their patients.

Conclusions  

The findings of the 2011Community Profile support the priorities set by the Komen Upper Cumberland Board at the 2009 Strategic Planning Session. The priorities highlight deficiencies in the Upper Cumberland region and serve to form a strategic plan for the Affiliate.

Priority 1: Access- There is a need for increased access to screening services for uninsured and underinsured, rural women.

Priority 2: Education/ Awareness- There is a need for increased breast health awareness and education, including prevention and screening information for women of all age groups and ethnicities.

Priority 3: Barriers to care- There is a need to reduce barriers to breast health services related to financial/ insurance issues, fears, and lack of transportation.