Thompson's Cancer Outreach Services team provides cancer screenings and education to communities that would otherwise not have these important services.

Thompson's Cancer Outreach Services bring cancer educational and screening to the poor, elderly, minorities and the high-risk working poor. In many instances Outreach Services may be the only opportunities these medically underserved groups can receive services than can make a lifesaving difference.

Thompson Cancer Survival Center's Cancer Outreach Services program provides thousands of free or low-cost mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, prostate cancer screenings and cancer education services to people in Knox and 18 other counties throughout East Tennessee and Southern Appalachia.

Cancer Outreach Services . . .

• Provides free or low-cost mammograms, pap tests and prostate cancer screenings to more than 3,300 people annually

• Educates women in target groups on breast health topics including prevention, early detection, breast cancer risk factors and symptoms, types of screenings and diet

• Takes mobile mammography unit into 19 Tennessee counties to reach underserved populations

• Educates the general public on colorectal cancer and prostate cancer risk factors, symptoms and screenings

• Provides colorectal health and cancer awareness information through public service messages, educational materials and programs at Senior Centers and other venues throughout the area

• Offers mammography to women at numerous businesses and industrial sites where it may be difficult to take time off from work for routine medical examinations

• Offers mammography to women at indigent clinics caring for uninsured and/or working poor patients

• Hosts entertaining, informative community events such as "Hair, Hemlines & Health," a fashion show incorporating breast health education for African-American women (who have higher than normal breast cancer mortality rates)

Lack of awareness and lack of access to quality health care are major risk factors among impoverished and underserved communities. Thompson's Outreach Services staff travels to these communities to provide education screenings and more. . When a suspicious finding is discovered, Cancer Outreach Services works with providers, community agencies, and our own Patient and Family Services department to obtain the care the patient needs.

For more information about our Outreach programs, please call (865) 541-1312.