Public Health Sciences staff forge community 'Links' for disease prevention among African Americans

Members of the local chapter of The Links, Inc., an international African-American women's service organization, recently came to the Hutchinson Center to learn about cancer prevention and help kick off an initiative called "Cross My Heart for Health." The nationwide campaign encourages African-American women to incorporate more walking into their daily lives in an effort to improve overall health and reduce the incidence of chronic, obesity-related diseases — from diabetes to cancer.

In addition to receiving pedometers and information about their health, members of the Greater Seattle Chapter of The Links, Inc., toured the Public Health Sciences Division's state-of-the-art Prevention Center and learned about opportunities to volunteer for the Center's cancer-prevention studies — including an exercise and nutrition breast-cancer prevention study recruiting hundreds of local women, including 100 women of color. The women will return to the Prevention Center in June for follow-up testing to assess the success of the walking program.

To learn about participating in the Center's cancer-prevention studies, visit www.fhcrc.org/donating/other/study/.