3 KEY QUESTIONS | Bridging Gaps in Care: Tackling Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening and Care

Published 10/28/2025

Milagros Abreu, MD, MPH, Founder and Executive Director/President of the Latino Health Insurance Program, answers “3 Key Questions” about her work to reduce health disparities by addressing barriers to healthcare access, insurance, education, and other social needs. Dr. Abreu serves on the DF/HCC Community Advisory Board and is a member of DF/HCC’s Breast Cancer Working Group, which brings together researchers and community members to address breast cancer in Massachusetts.

2. What have you found to be most effective in addressing gaps in breast cancer screening and care? How have you engaged the community, and in what ways has this engagement strengthened your work?

Our organization has created a Women’s Health Program, which provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income women, thanks to support from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. Many of the women we serve face barriers such as being uninsured or underinsured, financial hardship, or limited knowledge about the importance of preventive screenings. LHIP’s community health workers (CHWs) play a key role in addressing these barriers – they provide education, assist with scheduling, and help them navigate the health system.

Women are often the primary caregivers for their families, and tend to put their own health last, delaying diagnoses and treatments. For example, one woman came to our office by a referral of a local church. She came to us seeking help for her husband, who had recently been diagnosed with dementia. During our assessment, we learned that not only was she uninsured but also had not seen a doctor in more than five years. Through our program, we helped her and her husband apply for medical coverage and federal nutritional programs and provided free screenings and physical exams. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and is now receiving timely treatment. Stories like hers highlight how our program helps eliminate barriers to care, address social determinants of health, and empower women with the knowledge and resources they need to stay healthy.

3. We are excited to have you as part of the DF/HCC’s new working group initiative that brings together academic and community partners to address the cancer burden in Massachusetts. As a member of the Breast Cancer Working Group, where do you see opportunities for DF/HCC researchers and community partners to work together?

We are very excited to partner with DF/HCC researchers and other community partners in our common efforts to advance health for all people in Massachusetts. Women of color are experiencing a higher burden of some types of cancer, such as breast and cervical cancer. We are focused on increasing awareness and access to medical services and research. We are hopeful that our participation in the Breast Cancer Working Group will help us to bring more opportunities to address these issues for women. One initiative the working group recently led was a virtual education session with Union Capital focused on breast cancer awareness and understanding personal risk. We believe that supporting cancer awareness and community efforts engaged by grassroots organizations, like LHIP, are critical to help spread the word and connect high risk women with valuable resources and timely screening, which are crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. LHIP also works with multiple churches across MA, which has helped us to reach very hard to reach populations. Our goal is to bridge clinical providers and community members together, which is vital to reducing the cancer burden in Massachusetts. We look forward to partnering with the DF/HCC to identify more ways to increase education around topics like cancer prevention and early detection in communities that need it most. To learn more about LHIP, please visit www.lhiprogram.org. If you would like to connect directly with me, you may do so via email: help@lhiprogram.org.

If you are doing collaborative work in the community and are interested in connecting with the Community Outreach and Engagement on any activities, please email Jenny Reiner (Jennifer_Reiner@dfci.harvard.edu).