Community Outreach & Engagement

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PROJECT SUMMARY: COMMUNITY OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT (COE) The catchment area of the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium includes 13 counties in western Washington (WA). This area has 5.03 million individuals of whom 32.3% are racial/ethnic minorities. Consortium leadership defined the catchment area to include the vast majority of incident cancers seen by the Consortium, with 83% of Consortium cases arising from this area. The Office of Community Outreach & Engagement (OCOE), established in 2017 by the Consortium, grew from the Health Disparities Research Center which was founded by Fred Hutch in 2010 and gained funding from the 2015-2019 Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG). Since 2017, the Consortium OCOE led a needs assessment process to define the cancer burden in the catchment area and comprehensively identify and guide efforts to address the cancer burden and inequities. The top five cancer sites for incidence and mortality include lung, breast, prostate, colorectal, and hematologic malignancies. The largest inequities for cancer incidence and mortality were among American Indian and Alaskan Natives (AIAN) and non-Hispanic blacks (NHB). Rural counties furthest from the Consortium sites also had the highest cancer incidence and mortality. Our goal is to attain health equity for all individuals, regardless of their race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic residence, or any other potentially limiting factor. Therefore, the specific aims of the OCOE are to: 1. Define and continuously monitor the cancer burden in the catchment area 2. Use an equitable, bidirectional approach to implement outreach and inreach education and programs to reduce the cancer burden in the catchment area 3. Promote research relevant to the catchment area to reduce the burden of cancer, including research between catchment communities and the Consortium 4. Continue and expand cancer research in high need areas beyond the catchment area To achieve these aims, the OCOE has made the needs assessment a continuous process and convened a Community Action Coalition, consisting of stakeholders representing all 13 catchment area counties, to review and guide our response to the dynamic needs of the area. Working with communities in the catchment area, the OCOE supports an expanded outreach and research infrastructure, which includes expansion of patient navigation and community health educators to promote engagement of catchment area populations as well as a new catchment-focused pilot grants program, all of which include an additional emphasis on those with the highest cancer inequities (i.e., AIAN, NHB, and rural populations).