Abstract PO-062: Flipping the switch to virtual community engagement: Strategies and future directions for online cancer education
Authors: Poulos Alia , Curry Gina 
Published: January 2022

History The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center's HealthyU program started as a health education initiative to reach University of Chicago Medicine employees from across a variety of sections and departments. HealthyU consisted of weekly workshops, called Workshop Wednesdays and pledge cards for cancer screenings. HealthyU programming was only done during awareness months for the “screenable” cancers: breast, cervix, colon, and lung. Attendance at our workshops was sporadic and completed pledge cards usually did not meet programmatic goals. Making the Switch to Virtual Programming Beginning in October 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we took the HealthyU program online for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Our breast cancer programming consisted of four educational webinars to encourage breast cancer screening, a digital screening pledge card, and a mammogram toolkit with printable resources to promote mammography. We had 50% more webinar participants and 23% more pledge cards signed virtually than we did in October of 2019 during our in-person programming. The success of our virtual Breast Cancer Awareness Month programming prompted us to expand HealthyU dramatically. Cutting out the logistics of on-campus programming has allowed us to broaden the scope of the HealthyU program in the following ways: 1. The target audience has grown beyond UChicago Medicine employees to include a variety of community partners across greater geographic areas both within and outside of our catchment area. 2. We host webinars on a weekly basis and for a wide range of cancer-related topics. 3. Our physical pledge cards are virtual and have grown to include pledge cards for other cancer screenings and risk-associated behaviors. 4. We created online toolkits to share with our community and UCM partners with information and shareable resources that can be used online or printed and distributed. 5. We have incorporated virtual contests to encourage cancer screening advocacy and awareness. 6. We designed self-guided cancer education modules and an online video library to supplement our programming. 7. We leveraged our social media presence to engage in real-time cancer-focused conversations online. 8. We developed other online webinar series, including documentary short screenings, survivorship storytelling, researcher/survivor summits, and singular webinars on public health topics. Outcomes & Future Directions Through the HealthyU program, we've connected over 100 UCM employees and community partners with 64 different University of Chicago faculty experts and 26 community experts. We plan to use the techniques and outreach strategies learned to expand our reach in other areas, including an online training course for cancer investigators and community members on the principles of community-based participatory research, and a community-scientist virtual summit on Cancer and the Microbiome. We have leveraged the success of this program to secure device donations to expand our outreach to communities with inadequate technology access.

Citation Format: Alia Poulos, Gina Curry. Flipping the switch to virtual community engagement: Strategies and future directions for online cancer education [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-062.