How Can You Help the Sister Study?
There are 3 ways that you can
help. You can:
- Join the Sister Study.
- Spread the word by telling other women who may be eligible to join the Sister Study.
- Become a Sister Study volunteer and help us make sure that all the women in your community know about the Sister Study.
JOIN THE STUDY
You may be able to join the Sister Study today if you answer YES to each of the following:
- Your sister, related to you by blood, had breast cancer.
- You are between the ages of 35 and 74.
- You have never had breast cancer yourself.
- You are a woman living in the U.S. or Puerto Rico
PLEASE NOTE: In order to ensure that the Sister Study represents all women, at this time we are only enrolling women from specific groups that are underrepresented in the study to date.
Specifically, we still need women from the following groups to enroll in the Sister Study:
- African Americans, Latinas, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans between ages 35-74.
- Caucasian women between the ages of 55-74 or with less than a bachelor degree.
While it is difficult to turn anyone away, Caucasian women ages 35-54 with a bachelor degree or higher will no longer be able to enroll, but can help the Sister Study in other ways. This group is now very well represented among our current participants.
If you need help determining whether you can join at this time, please call our toll free number 1-877-4SISTER or answer the screening questions in this website.
SHARE YOUR SISTER STORY
If you enrolled, consider sharing your “Sister Story” by writing about your family ’s personal experience when your sister had breast cancer. Please make sure to include what motivated you to take action through this breast cancer study. Your ‘Sister Story” may inspire others to enroll and to understand how important is to participate in research. Click here for guidelines on how to write your Sister Story. You may also consider becoming one of our “spoke-sisters” so you can share your Sister Story with your local media. Please contact us if you would like to be a spoke-sister.
SPREAD THE WORD
Whether you are eligible to enroll or not, you can tell all of your friends, relatives, and co-workers about the Sister Study. All this will take a few minutes of your time to call them or send them an email with the link to this web site. Ask them to visit this web site and find out if they can join the study. Please email our helpdesk to request email blurbs for publication and dissemination.
Remember, our efforts to learn more about breast cancer grow stronger, woman by woman, sister by sister.
You can become a Sister Study volunteer by doing activities in your own community to help all women learn about the Sister Study and support this important research. These activities can be as simple as posting flyers or handing out brochures or as involved as speaking to groups about the study. You decide how you want to help.
You can let us know that you'd like to volunteer by calling the Sister Study help line toll-free at 1-877-4SISTER (1-877-474-7837). We will provide you with volunteer and study materials. Click here for “Talking Points” about the Sister Study.