Breast Cancer Essay

Breast cancer is a public health issue that affects the lives’ of millions. The evidence-based Public health approach used to address health issues is known as P.E.R.I.E. The P.E.R.I.E. process stands for problem, etiology, recommendations, implementation, and evaluation. Through the P.E.R.I.E process, breast cancer can be addressed and evaluate to get a better understanding, with the intentions of reducing the risk. The health problem is breast cancer. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that is located in the cells of the breast. According to the American Cancer Society, a malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that can grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body (2015). The burden of

“When” focuses on the time of the disease, which can be broken down into primary, secondary, and tertiary. “Who” focuses on who the actions should be implemented towards, whether that is individual or a larger population. “How” focuses on the type of intervention that should be used. There are three types of intervention; which are education, motivation, and obligations. Primary is prior to the disease, secondary is prior to the symptoms, and tertiary is prior to the irreversible complications. Primary would be educating the individual about the risk factors that increase the chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer. The secondary level would be motivating the at-risk groups to get mammograms, or other forms of testing to determine early detection. Mammograms are screening exams that are used to detect cancer before the symptoms are present or have begun (American Cancer Society, 2015). Tertiary level would be the diagnosis and treatment of the cancer before there were irreversible consequences, such as death. There are many types of treatments available. Breast-conserving surgery, also known as partial mastectomy or lumpectomy, is where part of the breast that contains the cancer is removed. A mastectomy is when the entire breast is surgically removed. There are other options available. The implementation would be based off each individual