At a Seattle Kraken game, the energy in the arena is electric—fans don their National Hockey League team’s colors, chant for their favorite players and relish the thrill of the action on the ice. But just beyond the concession stands and merchandise booths, an unexpected initiative is taking place: free prostate-cancer screenings.
Seattle’s sports scene has long been a unifying force in the community, and now teams such as the Kraken, Seahawks and Mariners are leveraging that influence to empower patients. In a push to give patients a chance at early detection and awareness, physicians and other health professionals at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health are bringing health screenings directly to the people—turning stadiums into screening hubs for thousands of fans.
With help from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, attendees can stop by designated locations before or during games for a quick and confidential screening with a blood test.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men and the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the U.S., with about one in eight being diagnosed during their lifetime. But prostate cancer is more likely to develop in older men. About 60% of prostate cancers are diagnosed in men 65 or older while it is rare in those under 40, according to the American Cancer Society. Meanwhile, risk for prostate cancer is also higher among Black men. Both the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American Urological Association recommend a process of shared decision-making regarding prostate-specific (PSA) antigen-based screening.
“There’s so much debate on how do you treat prostate cancer and when you should screen for it” said Seattle urologist Paul Kozlowski, MD, who added that is why connecting with patients in unconventional settings can be a valuable opportunity to communicate the benefits and risks of screening.
“Guys like sports—so let’s start there,” said Dr. Kozlowski, who practices at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which is a member of the AMA Health System Program that provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Last year, the health system held big screening events with Seattle’s three major-league teams, the Seahawks, Mariners and Kraken. These sporting events draw tens of thousands of sports enthusiasts, including many older men for whom the conversation about prostate-cancer screening is appropriate.
It’s a simple blood draw
At different sporting events, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health sets up a booth with private curtained rooms, where a physician and their team talk with potential patients about the PSA-based screenings, which involve a simple blood draw. The health system team that operates the booths has found a growing number of eligible patients interested in pursuing PSA-based screening after learning about the pros and cons.
“The last time we did the Kraken game, we ran out of tubes for blood draws,” Dr. Kozlowski said.
From these screenings, he said, about 10% of the blood tests have been abnormal. Patients are then referred to a urologist to discuss whether a biopsy—needed for a definitive diagnosis of prostate cancer—is indicated.
It’s about raising awareness
“Part of the reasons we’re using these sporting events is we’re getting the word out to where the patients are,” Dr. Kozlowski said. “If they won’t come to us, we’ll come to them.”
But attendees of these sporting events don’t have to get their blood drawn at the game for this to be meaningful. It goes beyond blood draws. It is about raising further awareness about prostate cancer.
“We as physicians are there so we can stand out there and be available to answer questions for them,” he said, noting that “it’s a free event and there’s a doctor you can talk to.”
To get the word out about these screenings at each event, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and the teams put together TV interviews—such as a news broadcast—in which physicians and other health professionals will talk about the screening with team leaders. And during the games, there are public address announcements to inform fans about the opportunity to get screened for prostate cancer. Social media posts and emails also go out to season ticket holders before the game, sharing about the opportunity and when, where and how to participate.
The screenings are part of team and league initiatives around cancer awareness such as the NFL’s Crucial Catch; Intercept Cancer platform and the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, which Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is the team’s chosen partner to elevate and share the message of how early screening saves lives to fans.
Then at the event there is “a big sign that says that any man between 45 and 59 can get their blood drawn,” Dr. Kozlowski said. American Urological Association guidelines state that physicians can “begin prostate-cancer screening and offer a baseline PSA test” those 45–50, and that they should offer screening every two to four years to patients between 50–69 years old.
Additionally, “what we did on this last event is the head coach for the Kraken—which is our hockey team—actually had his blood drawn and they did a news spot on that,” he said, noting that “when you’re trying to get the word out, you want to publicize it, but particularly in the sports world, the fans really look up to the players and coaches. So, it’s really important when we do these events that we can get some of the players, coaches or people associated with the team to also be willing to participate.”
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It doesn’t end at the game
Once a person has their blood drawn for the PSA test, the results are reviewed by a doctor and the patient will be called with the results. If their test indicates elevated PSA levels, they are offered to schedule an appointment with a physician at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health or to follow up with their primary care physician or urologist if they have one.
“If you don’t, we can refer you to a urologist or you might just want to go see your primary care doctor and talk to them first. You can do that too,” Dr. Kozlowski said.
It’s been effective
To measure the effectiveness of using sporting events for health screenings, it is important to look at the numbers. Look at the number of people who participate in getting their blood drawn. But also make note of how many people you speak to or who take an educational pamphlet about the screening.
“When we did the first event, there were around 20 screenings. Then the next one was around 30 or 40. And then this last one we did was about 100 screenings,” Dr. Kozlowski said. “It’s us getting better at it. It’s the team getting the word out and figuring out how these screenings save the lives of their fans.”
“And one of the things you can do is look at how many people actually came up and participated in the screening,” he said. “The other thing you can do is look at how many people actually came up to our table and how much reading material you’re circulating and giving out. Those are the numbers you can look at and see how effective you are.
“Sports teams of any type are really good to partner with for community outreach to get out to where there’s large numbers of people,” Dr. Kozlowski added. “And we can use those relationships not just for screening, but also for education and advising our patients or people in the community about what’s out there.”
“This is a great opportunity for a health care system to talk about cancer prevention, to talk about early detection of cancer or even prevention of high cholesterol, reducing heart attack risk and diabetes risk,” he said. “Partnering up with sporting teams or participating in sporting events is a great way to get the word out to the community.”
