Abstract B080: Collaborative work groups to reduce Wisconsin’s breast and lung cancer disparities
Authors: Young Staci , Meister Tim , Frazer David , Cawthra Tobi , Pinsoneault Laura , Stolley Melinda 
Published: January 2023

Introduction: Cancer disparities are complex, requiring an approach which engages diverse sectors with knowledge of biology, behavior, and the socio-cultural and physical environments. Such transdisciplinary work requires a shift in thinking and practice across multiple sectors. To create meaningful interactions across sectors, we must grow the capacity of community-academic partnerships to work together equitably and innovatively. Collaborative Work Groups (CWG) is a program of the Community Cancer Science Network (CCSN) initiative of the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center to address breast and lung cancer disparities statewide. CCSN uses a transdisciplinary approach which integrates academic and non-academic perspectives in the understanding of cancer disparities and in implementation of solutions. CCSN is grounded in three principles: deep equity, systems thinking and a biology to policy approach to solutions. Methods: The goal of the CWG program is to build and engage collaborative teams over an extended period of time to focus deeply on community level solutions to eliminate cancer disparities and achieve positive health outcomes. A critical first step is to understand the issues facing local communities, integrate diverse sectors with knowledge of biology, behavior, and the socio-cultural and physical environments, and develop work groups to create an equitable voice for all participants to contribute to designing viable solutions. CWGs focus on collaborations between diverse teams of academics, community partners and cancer survivors. They will create an equitable co-learning space allowing teams an opportunity to build empathy with those affected by the disparity and grow their understanding of a specific topic related to breast or lung cancer and reimagine how it might look to successfully address this topic. CWGs will use a human-centered design approach to co-design solutions to be implemented in the second phase of the project. This presentation offers the opportunity to learn the background of the initiative, including: 1) the rationale for the selection of certain breast and lung cancer topics; 2) the engagement of three community organizations to serve as local champions and owners of the work; 3) a discussion of the process to develop the infrastructure required to work collaboratively; and 4) early lessons learned from engaging work groups in a Human Centered Design process to consider cancer disparities and imagine potential solutions. Conclusion: Collaborative work groups can contribute to eliminating cancer disparities and achieve positive health outcomes in targeted communities through a human centered design process that integrates diverse sectors with knowledge of biology, behavior, and the socio-cultural and physical environments, and creates an equitable voice for all participants to contribute to designing viable solutions.

Citation Format: Staci Young, Tim Meister, David Frazer, Tobi Cawthra, Laura Pinsoneault, Melinda Stolley. Collaborative work groups to reduce Wisconsin’s breast and lung cancer disparities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B080.