Adelphi University’s New York Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program, now in its 39th year of operation, is continuing its mission of free information and care for women across the state.
The program originated in 1980 at the university’s School of Social Work, where women in a post-mastectomy support group thought of ways to reach out to women in similar circumstances. At the time, breast cancer was a taboo subject, according to Angela Papalia, a bilingual social worker with the program.
“No one discussed breast cancer at that time,” Papalia said. “Now, with it being 2019, we’re in a time where we have a lot more power in terms of being informed, there’s a lot more known about breast cancer.”
The support group created a “Woman-to-Woman Hotline,” where women in the Long Island area could call in and ask questions they wouldn’t or couldn’t otherwise. In 1990, state funding allowed the hotline’s expansion statewide, and now over 100 volunteers operate the phones.
“We field hundreds of calls a year from all over the state, and we even field calls from all over the country,” Papalia said.
Papalia said that calls increase around October, the officially designated Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“But for us, every month is breast cancer awareness month,” Papalia said.
In addition to the hotline, Adelphi runs a program where social workers like Papalia, operating through Nassau County Medical Center, provide services for diagnosed women in medically underserved areas. The hospital invited the program in 2005, Papalia says.
“A lot of patients were being diagnosed, but there wasn’t a lot of follow up,” Papalia said. “So we brought in our social workers to really look and see the barriers to care. We began in the breast clinics, and realized that there were so many barriers in their lives that prevented patients from coming in, barriers such as transportation, access to insurance, financial hardship. Patients were choosing between food on their table or copays for appointments.”
Since then, Papalia and her colleagues work with over thousands of women a year through the program, in keeping with the program’s goal.
“The Adelphi New York State breast cancer program is here to assure that no one has to face breast cancer alone,” Papalia said.
The program can be reached by phone at 516-877-4320 and by email at breastcancerhotline@adelphi.edu. The program’s support hotline is reachable at 1-800-877-8077.
