Joseph Ravenell, MD, MS, assistant professor of Population Health and Medicine, Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses access to screening among black men.

One factor that leads to health disparities is access to healthcare, and more specifically, access to primary care. If a person does not have a primary care physician, Ravenell says, it’s difficult to direct him/her to a place to be screened for cancer.

Black men are less likely to have primary care physicians than other groups, mainly due to lack of insurance coverage and medical mistrust. Ravenell says it may be beneficial to contact black men at barber shops and churches—two historically important institutions in their community.

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Joseph Ravenell, MD, MS, from NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses access to screening among black men.

Joseph Ravenell on Access to Screening Among Black Men

Joseph Ravenell, MD, MS, assistant professor of Population Health and Medicine, Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses some of the challenges with screening black men for colon cancer.

The incidence and mortality rate from colon cancer is high among black men, according to Ravenell, mainly due to lack of timely screening.

Many men are unaware that they need to be screened, he says, and do not know how to actually get screened.

To clear these hurdles, Ravenell’s group goes out into the community to seek out and educate men who are eligible for screening. The group then aims to educate these men about preparation for colon cancer screening and what to expect.

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Joseph Ravenell, MD, MS, discusses some of the challenges with screening black men for colon cancer.

Joseph Ravenell, MD, MS

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Joseph Ravenell on Access to Screening Among Black Men

Joseph Ravenell on Screening for Colon Cancer in Black Men