Outreach and Education

Signature Events

Smart Health Community Education Day

Smart Health was created to provide our community partners with deeper learning opportunities pertaining to cancer prevention and research, to use as a platform to report back on research results, and to educate individuals and families about research and its relevance. These events are designed to deliver intensive small group health education with the goal of increasing screening rates.

Virtual Town Halls and Webinars

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our limited ability to reach the community in person, we began holding virtual town hall and webinar events. These events are free and open to the public. You can watch recordings of previous events on the PECaD YouTube page at any time (please note the date of each event—the information provided in each video is current only as of that date and may not reflect future developments).

Community Screenings

Mammography Van

To improve the convenience and availability of mammography, Siteman operates a mobile mammography van that offers screenings by appointment at various locations in the St. Louis area and beyond.

In 2019, PECaD began working with the Siteman Mammography Van at screening sites to provide breast cancer education to women. Through this partnership, PECaD staff are able to reach women who have not scheduled a mammogram to answer their questions, help dispel any concern they have around cancer screening, and assist them with getting a mammogram with the van, if they meet the qualifications.

Check out the SCC Mammography Van calendar if you’d like to make an appointment.

Mammography resources

• • Show Me Healthy Women
  • Komen
  • PECaD Breast Cancer Resource Guide

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Screening

The prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test measures the level of PSA, a substance made by the prostate that may be found in an increased amount in the blood of men who have prostate cancer. While high PSA levels can be caused by prostate cancer, these levels can also be high in men who have an infection or inflammation of the prostate.

The PSA test is the primary screening technique for prostate cancer. Washington University Physicians at Siteman pioneered this test and have successfully developed the free PSA test as a way of more accurately detecting cancer.

Colorectal Cancer Screening

Screening tests look for a disease when a person doesn’t have symptoms. Colon cancer is one of the few cancers that can be found through these tests. A colon cancer screening may find polyps, which are growths on the lining of the colon or rectum. Because polyps can turn into cancer over time, doctors remove them to reduce that risk. Screening can also find colon cancer in its early stages, when it’s easier to treat.

Most people should start getting screened for colon cancer at age 45. People with a family history of polyps or colon cancer may need to get screened before they turn 45.