Abstract B110: Reducing cancer disparities through identification of linkages to care partners within GMaP Region 1 North
Authors: Houston Julia F. , Fozdar Heenali , Blinka Marcela , Cromo Mark 
Published: August 2020

Introduction: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) supports two national networks within its Integrated Network Program (INP): the Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program (GMaP) and the National Outreach Network (NON). CRCHD strategically engages in facilitation efforts to integrate and disseminate efforts focused on reducing cancer health disparities among the scientific community and to the underserved communities they serve. The GMaP Region 1 North (R1N) hub is one of 7 regional GMaP hubs, led by Regional Coordinating Directors (RCDs) and inclusive of 8 NON CHES across 6 cancer center sites. The R1N hub is based at the Markey Cancer Center in Lexington, Kentucky. R1N has partnered with Johns Hopkins University's Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Virginia Cancer Center to serve Delaware, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, DC. RCDs and NON CHEs collaborate to enhance the capacity of regional cancer centers, academic and research partners and community partners to reduce regional cancer health disparities. Identification of preventative screening programs, or “linkages to care,” currently in place across our region and dissemination of this information to key partners was a strategy employed by R1N.

Methods: RCDs conducted a web search of all R1N member institutions and organizations and of NON CHEs cancer outreach, education activities and cancer screening initiatives. Using key search terms such as “cancer screenings,” “cancer education,” “cancer awareness,” “clinical trials” for each cancer type (breast, colon, lung, prostate, cervical and ovarian), they searched within each state and DC as well as queried social media channels (Facebook, Google+, Twitter and YouTube) of each R1N member to reveal “linkages to care” data available for each.

Results: While search engines provided results in response to our query methods described above, we noted that cancer-specific awareness months offer frequencies for NON CHE interactions through member institutions and for community members occur at least once a quarter in correlation with cancer-specific awareness months campaigns. Based on methods used, RCDs successfully developed, implemented, and disseminated the plan to identify Linkages to Care within R1N.

Conclusions: RCDs recommend that R1N member institutions and organizations dedicate web pages to Linkages to Care and adopt social media accounts for their respective public health divisions and/or organizations sponsoring cancer education, outreach, screening initiatives and clinical trials recruitment. The goal is to increase visibility of collaborative efforts among regional cancer centers, academic partners, and minority serving institutions to coordinate Linkages to Care within an NCI CRCHD INP.

Citation Format: Julia F. Houston, Heenali Fozdar, Marcela Blinka, Mark Cromo. Reducing cancer disparities through identification of linkages to care partners within GMaP Region 1 North [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr B110.