Abstract 2550: Participant's satisfaction with the cancer community awareness access research and education (C-CARE) project at urban and rural sites
Authors: Albashir Ghadeer , Sojourner Samantha , Vernon Marlo , Moore Justin , Looney Stephen , Tingen Martha 
Published: July 2021

Introduction: The cancer-Community Awareness Access Research & Education (c-CARE) project includes a series of cancer-related educational sessions that focus on educating the enrolled participants about cancers that are either preventable or have the potential for early detection to positively impact cancer outcomes. One of the important indicators of success is the level of satisfaction with the program expressed by the study participants who were navigated to needed medical or non-medical community resources through the program.

Methods: The study (n=548, 98 rural (17.9%),450 urban (82.1%), provided education, cancer screening, and addressed perceived barriers and self-efficacy to accessing early cancer detection resources, while providing a list of community-based resources. Inclusion criteria included adults with 21-80 years of age primarily living in small urban and rural GA or SC counties. The study occurred in 9 urban AA churches, 3 rural AA churches, 3 community clinics and one Community Center. The responses to each question in the satisfaction survey were summarized using descriptive analysis (frequency, percent, and p-value).

Results: A majority of respondents reported satisfaction with the program (86.5%) and that they would recommend the program to others (99.8%). Approximately, one-third (31.1%) stated that they used one or more of the c-CARE community resources provided. Of those who used c-CARE resources, 74.3% participated in Lung Cancer Screening, 58.3% used the Tobacco Cessation Clinic, and 44.3% used Community Resources. Almost all of the respondents stated that they were satisfied with the c-CARE resources (82.3%). Significantly, more rural participants reported accessing Lung Cancer Screening (100%, p &lt; 0.03), the Tobacco Cessation Clinic (100%, p &lt; 0.04), and community resources (100%, p &lt; 0.01). There were no significant differences between the rural and urban cohorts in program satisfaction, if they would recommend the program to others, used one or more of the c-CARE resources provided, or were satisfied with the resources provided.

Conclusion: These results demonstrate increased need in both rural and urban communities for access to cancer screening and resources. Participant satisfaction is an important outcome measure for vulnerable population needs and experiences within their community. The c-CARE project was able to successfully provide education, cancer screening, and navigation to community cancer prevention and support resources to both urban and rural populations with demonstrated satisfaction and success.

Citation Format: Ghadeer Albashir, Samantha Sojourner, Marlo Vernon, Justin Moore, Stephen Looney, Martha Tingen. Participant's satisfaction with the cancer community awareness access research and education (C-CARE) project at urban and rural sites [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 2550.