Impact of PACHE Outreach Research on

Advancing Cancer Health Equity

K. Viswanath, PhD, DFCI/HSPH

Adán Colon-Carmona, PhD, UMB

University of Massachusetts, Boston - Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center

U54 Partnership to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities

U54 Outreach Core Goals

• Dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies into

faith-based settings

• Building capacity within the faith-based community for program

sustainability

• Increasing knowledge and participation of racial and ethnic minorities

in biospecimens related research

• Leveraging research activities to inform intervention implementation

• Providing resources and support to U54 research projects

• Providing mentorship and training opportunities for students in

outreach research;

• Participating in NCI National Outreach Network (NON) activities

4 Key Services and Activities

• Capacity-building in health ministries

• Capacity-building among students

• Biobanking capacity-building to address cancer

disparities

• Advising U54 researchers on recruitment and retention

and outreach research project planning

Capacity Building in Health Ministries

• The Outreach Core has been working with 6 churches (3 Black and

3 Latino) to increase health ministries’ capacity to plan, implement

and evaluate health promotion activities

• Conducted needs assessment (n=312) which drove support for

existing prevention programs and raised participation and retention

in activities

• Health priorities included nutrition/physical activity, diabetes/obesity

prevention, breast cancer, prostate cancer and cervical cancer

• Provided training, technical assistance and mini-grants (30K) to

support delivery of evidence-based cancer prevention strategies

including screening, physical activity and health eating

• Conducted focus groups (n=4) with 27 members from the health

ministries

Capacity-building among students

• 18 URM students participated in U54 Training Core Education Activities

– Workshops

– Education Day

– Summer Symposium

• 16 (out of 20) students prepared poster presentations for the U 54 Annual

Symposium as well as for national student–centered and professional

conferences with U54 support

• Several students went on to Graduate and Professional schools – Business (n=1)

– Social work (n=2)

– Public health (n=3)

• 5 students obtained jobs in public health and community health education

Biobanking capacity-building to address cancer disparities

• In collaboration with the CDRN, the Outreach Core adapted NCI

Cancer 101 Biospecimens Education Module for use in Black and

Latino Communities

• 312 participants completed the training including church members,

CBOs and low-income housing sites

• Biobanking Curriculum evaluation

– Demographics

• 21% Latinos, 55% Black, 75% female

• 41% reported having high school education or less

• Mean age was 61

– Findings

• Training increased knowledge about biobanking and tissue donation

• Willingness to donate and trust in research increased significantly

from pre-test to 1-month follow-up

Consultation and Support with U 54 Researchers

• The Outreach Core advised U54 researchers on:

– Recruitment and outreach plans

– Identifying potential community partners

– Obtaining Letters of Support

– Reviewing formative research plans

Outreach Core Generated Resources

• Cancer 101 Biobanking and Biospecimens Education

Curriculum Evaluation Report

• Church-Based Needs Assessment Survey

• Logic Model

• Indicators and Metrics table

• Health Ministry Leader Survey

What

is

known

What

is

done

The science of knowledge translation

Community-based participatory research

• Creating social change by leveraging strengths and

resources of academic and community partners to

combine knowledge and action

• Population health and health disparities

KEY PROCESS INPUTS

Institutionalized Participation

• Ongoing engagement • Formal agreements

Investment in Communities

• Human capital

• Social capital

• Resource-sharing

Knowledge Production and Transfer

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPACTS

Individual-level

• KT capacity

• KT activities

• Facilitators / constraints

Organization-level

•Network development

• Facilitators / constraints

• KT activities

Community-level

• Community capacity for KT

• Community mobilization

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES

COMMUNITY HEALTH

• Improved population health

• Reduced disparities

SYSTEM SUPPORTS

Organization-level

• Institutionalization of KT

• Sustained engagement / networks

Community-level:

• Action to improve health

Multiple cycles

Do

Study Act

Plan

The Participatory Knowledge Translation

Framework

Investment in communities:

Examples from the field

Capacity-building workshops for practitioners

Network development

Sharing staff resources

Training local students as data collectors

Knowledge production and transfer: Exemplar

products

Connections among 38 MassCONECT Network Members, at Network Inception

and Year 4 Infrastructure development

Connections among 38 MassCONECT Network Members, at Inception and Year

4

KEY PROCESS INPUTS

Institutionalized Participation

• Ongoing engagement • Formal agreements

Investment in Communities

• Human capital

• Social capital

• Resource-sharing

Knowledge Production and Transfer

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPACTS

Individual-level

• KT capacity

• KT activities

• Facilitators / constraints

Organization-level

•Network development

• Facilitators / constraints

• KT activities

Community-level

• Community capacity for KT

• Community mobilization

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES

COMMUNITY HEALTH

• Improved population health

• Reduced disparities

SYSTEM SUPPORTS

Organization-level

• Institutionalization of KT

• Sustained engagement / networks

Community-level:

• Action to improve health

Multiple cycles

Do

Study Act

Plan

Ramanadhan & Viswanath, in press

A range of settings and modalities

Acknowledgements

National Cancer Institute: PACHE: U54CA156732 and U54CA156734

Community Partners

Institutional Support: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, U Mass Boston & Harvard

Chan

Grant Numbers: U54CA156732 and U54CA156734

Sponsor: NCI Partnership Website: www.umb.edu/u54 Grant Numbers: U54CA156732 and U54CA156734

Sponsor: NCI Partnership Website: www.umb.edu/u54