Familias Fuertes: Outreach to Latino families with a child coping with cancer

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this Phase I Small Business Innovation Research application, KDH Research and Communication (KDHRC) proposes to develop and evaluate a culturally relevant outreach program to provide education and support for Latino families with children coping with cancer. More specifically, the program, tentatively entitled Familias Fuertes (Strong Families) [FF], will address two different health situations. First, FF will provide specific materials for Latino families with a child diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Second, FF will supply materials to help Latino families with a child who has a parent, caregiver, or other close family member with cancer. To reduce institutional barriers to care that are often experienced by Latinos due to language, insurance, immigration status and other challenges, FF will be implemented in a two step process. First, community based health organizations that serve Latinos will recruit and train protomoras, using the FF training guide, a product that provides a blueprint for systematic, evidence-based training sessions and associated outreach tools like brochures, flipcharts, and flyers. Second, these promotoras will conduct outreach to Latino families with a child coping with cancer, reaching them at critical points in the cancer diagnosis, treatment, and coping processes of the children. In that way, FF will 1) provide a bridge between the family in its community and formalized medical systems of care to reduce the risk of negative medical outcomes, and 2) promote family communication about the disease to decrease distress and increase effective coping in children and adults. Latinos experience significant health disparities and barriers to care when coping with cancer. FF will support families with children, a vulnerable population presently unserved by existing programs. In Phase I, KDHRC will conduct formative research with families with children coping with cancer, health care providers, community advocates, and promotoras to inform the content and design of the training guide and promotora tools. A prototype of these products will be created, and a feasibility study will assess the extent to which the prototype is appropriate, relevant, and has the potential for successful implementation. The study will also lay the foundation for further product development and evaluation in Phase II. Latinos, particularly children, with cancer are more likely to receive a diagnosis at a later stage than non- Hispanic whites. This difference has been attributed to access-related barriers, such as uninsured or underinsured status, and linguistic/cultural communication difficulties with health care providers. Because of these rates and the health challenges that they may represent, there has been a strong call from the public health and medical fields to develop culturally appropriate initiatives to improve the spectrum of cancer-related health care for Latinos in the United States. Public Health Relevance: To that end, Familias Fuertes program will support Latino families with a child coping with cancer, and will provide an evidence-based, replicable, and easily disseminated program that may reduce health disparities and barriers to care in this population.