Newswise — The Lymphoma Research Foundation is announcing the launch of a new educational initiative called LAMP (Lymphoma Awareness for Multicultural Populations), to provide underserved populations with much-needed education about lymphoma, the most common blood cancer and third most common cancer in children.
A new, multilingual, interactive website (http://www.lymphomafacts.org) and toll-free number (1-800-500-9976) featuring lymphoma information in Spanish and Chinese provides critical information for patients, families and healthcare providers dealing with this disease. Through this program, the Lymphoma Research Foundation hopes to increase awareness, educational activities and access to materials and services in low literacy non-English-speaking, diverse immigrant populations.
"Regular, quality care for underserved minority communities is a challenge, not only due to cultural barriers, but because the majority of available patient information is written for English-speakers in this country," said Errol M. Cook, President of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. "In order to make an impact in these communities, we need to reach out to them directly and make sure they have the information they need to understand the disease and what they can do to manage it."
Access to healthcare information for patients who do not speak English is an increasing challenge in today's healthcare setting and can negatively impact patient response to treatment. According to the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, whose mission is to improve the health and well-being of Hispanics, Hispanics are less likely than the majority population to receive or use needed medications, and research suggests they receive fewer state-of-the-art medications.
Similar language and cultural barriers have been reported among the Chinese community. The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations reported that Asians are least likely to report having a personal doctor and be satisfied with the care they receive, compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. This can negatively impact care, in that patients will be less likely to return to their physician in times of need.
"Inadequate health communication leads to a patient's inability to understand information, ineffective patient-provider communication, and ultimately, compromised care and unnecessary costs." said Oliver W. Press, MD, Chair-Elect of the Lymphoma Research Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board. "Many of these underserved individuals are not diagnosed until the later stages of the disease and we need to make sure that all patients understand the implications of their healthcare decisions by providing them information in a form useful to them."
Lymphoma affects nearly 500,000 in the U.S. In 2005, approximately 63,740 new cases of lymphoma will be diagnosed, and 20,610 people will die from the disease. There are more than 30 subtypes of lymphoma, consisting of five types of Hodgkin's lymphoma (also known as Hodgkin's disease) and over 25 types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is a less common form of lymphoma. Of the nearly 500,000 Americans with lymphoma, over 142,000 have Hodgkin's lymphoma. It occurs mainly in young adults, with a peak occurrence between ages 16 and 34, and those newly diagnosed can expect a five-year mortality rate of 85 percent. Over 7,000 new cases were expected to be diagnosed in 2005, and almost 1,500 people were expected to die of the disease.
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is the most common cancer of the lymphatic system. Of the nearly 500,000 Americans with lymphoma, 332,000 have this form. Since the early 1970's, incidence rates for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have nearly doubled. In 2005, more than 55,000 people were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and over 19,000 people were expected to die from it.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation is the nation's largest lymphoma-focused voluntary health organization devoted exclusively to funding lymphoma research and providing patients and healthcare professionals with critical information on the disease. Lymphoma Research Foundation's mission is to eradicate lymphoma and serve those touched by the disease.
To date, the Lymphoma Research Foundation has funded more than $24 million in lymphoma research. Over 85 cents of every dollar raised goes to research and education programming.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation was formed in November 2001 by the merger of the Cure for Lymphoma Foundation (CFL) and the Lymphoma Research Foundation of America (LRFA). Both CFL and LRFA were founded by lymphoma advocates who sought to turn a life-changing diagnosis into a positive experience for others with the disease.
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