Abstract PO2-09-10: Addressing Breast Cancer Disparities: Co-Creating Digital Interventions with Patients, Navigators & the Community to Address Social Determinants of Health in the Memphis Statistical Area
Authors: Vidal Gregory , Tinianov Stacey , Kelly Aubrey , Curry Andrea , Baker Carla 
Published: May 2024

Background: The Memphis Statistical Area, which covers counties in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, leads in disparities in mortality rates between Black breast cancer patients compared to White counterparts1. Urban Health Education & Support Services (UHESS), in partnership with RabbleHealth, and West Cancer Center & Research Institute (WCCRI), initiated a solutions-oriented, community-based scalable initiative in January 2023 to measurably address social determinants of health (SDOH), which often drive cancer inequities that disproportionately impact individuals of marginalized communities. By leveraging a community-driven, co-creation sustainable approach, the team sought to measurably improve breast cancer equality utilizing digital enablement and the knowledge of local breast cancer survivors and leading healthcare professionals, including navigators. Methods: A four-phase approach was leveraged to 1. improve access to locally available breast cancer services in communities that are traditionally underserved and 2. measure the public health impact against root causes of breast inequities (i.e., care pathway metrics), and 3. create a repeatable, scalable model to expand to other underserved communities. In Phase 1, UHESS leveraged the Mid-South Regional Breast Cancer Coalition, which convenes ten local breast cancer patient advocacy organizations, to recruit focus groups for co-creation throughout all phases of the initiative. The working group consisted of eight representatives from a variety of Memphis-based cancer organizations, faith-based organizations, navigator programs, and WCCRI. This phase centered around establishing trust with the local patient advocacy community. In Phase 2, an initial patient survey was circulated to identify key resources that reduce health inequities and barriers to access. Human-centered design facilitators supported a series of Listen & Learn workshops with patients to convey root causes of gaps in access to relevant services and with navigators to understand professional needs of navigators and scale the ability improve patient access to resources. To co-create a solution, facilitated patient and navigator workshops were held in Phase 3 to gather patient-centric user experience and design enhancements for a digital patient engagement app. These requirements as well as navigator-defined metrics needs were digitized and organized by SDoH. Phase 4, the Deploy & Measure phase, will begin in September of 2023 and the community-based deployment model focuses on three drivers including: (a) embedding within navigator workflow, (b) activating faith-based organizations, and (c) leveraging societies. Health equity performance data will be analyzed weekly to rapidly target those ZIP codes with the greatest need. Results: Co-design efforts included over 50 members of the Greater Memphis community and final initiative results will be presented at the meeting. Planning for further research regarding community impact and model scalability is already underway. Conclusion: By leveraging a community-driven, co-creation sustainable approach, this model enables a better way to measurably improve breast cancer equality utilizing digital enablement and the knowledge of local breast cancer survivors and leading healthcare professionals, including navigators. Initiative Funding Acknowledgements: Gilead Life Sciences & Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Foundation 1. Vidal G, Bursac Z, Miranda-Carboni G, White-Means S, Starlard-Davenport A. Racial disparities in survival outcomes by breast tumor subtype among African American women in Memphis, Tennessee. Cancer Med. 2017 Jul;6(7):1776-1786. doi: 10.1002/cam4.1117. Epub 2017 Jun 14. PMID: 28612435; PMCID: PMC5504313.

Citation Format: Gregory Vidal, Stacey Tinianov, Aubrey Kelly, Andrea Curry, Carla Baker. Addressing Breast Cancer Disparities: Co-Creating Digital Interventions with Patients, Navigators & the Community to Address Social Determinants of Health in the Memphis Statistical Area [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO2-09-10.