Randolph Community College To Participate in UNC Research Project

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will partner with Randolph Community College on a research project to improve cervical and breast cancer screening for women with developmental disabilities. RCC is one of several community colleges taking part in the project led by Susan L. Parish, associate professor in the School of Social Work at UNC.

Parish said studies have found that women with developmental disabilities usually have very low rates of screening for cervical and breast cancer. The project will test the effectiveness of a class, called Women Be Healthy, which will teach the women the importance of these screenings.

Students in Randolph Community College's Compensatory Education program will participate in this research project. The Compensatory Education program gives educational opportunities to adults 17 years or older with intellectual disabilities or traumatic brain injuries.

UNC researchers will visit RCC to recruit the women for the project and train RCC teachers in the Women Be Healthy curriculum. The class, an 8-week course with 90 minutes per class, will be taught in the spring semester as part of the normal Compensatory Education curriculum, which consists of seven required subject areas: language, math, social science, community living, consumer education, health, and vocational education.

Tonya Monroe, RCC Compensatory Education coordinator, said the class will teach the women how to do self-examinations, how to talk to doctors, and how to be their own health advocates. It will involve students at the Asheboro Campus, RCC's Archdale Center, and an RCC class held at Goodwill Industries.

The UNC researchers will follow the women for approximately two years to find out about their cancer screening appointments. Women who do not take the class this January will be put on a waiting list and will able to complete the class at the end of the project. Approximately 15 students from RCC are expected to participate and a total of 160 women across the state will be involved in the project.

The project is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, said Parish, who has been at UNC since 2003. She also directs UNC's Developmental Disabilities Training Institute, which conducts research and training across North Carolina. Parish earned a bachelor's degree in English from Rutgers College, a master's degree in Social Work from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on the health and well-being of people with disabilities.