Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity

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Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC) serves adult and pediatric populations in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metropolitan Statistical Area—a 13-county region of 7.5M individuals in North Texas. SCCC covers a large geographic area (~9,300 sq. miles) that is mainly urban, with only 50 of 1,324 census tracts being rural. DFW is a majority-minority population (29% Hispanic, 43% Non-Hispanic [NH] White, 17% NH Black, 7% NH Asian). SCCC’s Office of Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity (COEE) was established in October 2018 under the leadership of Associate Director Jasmin Tiro, PhD, MPH. Tiro coordinates and cultivates transdisciplinary research and outreach initiatives that facilitate bidirectional communication and promote cancer equity in SCCC’s catchment. Based on review of its catchment area cancer burden, SCCC has prioritized and facilitated research focused on lung, hepatocellular, colorectal, and kidney cancers, as these either have the highest prevalence, increasing incidence, and/or documented disparities in outcomes. The SCCC catchment area also has one of the highest uninsured rates (21% vs. 10%) in the U.S.; thus, the COEE has built their outreach programs around providing access to and patient navigation for evidence-based screening and diagnostic services (breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers) and cancer prevention behaviors (HPV vaccination, tobacco cessation, and hepatitis C screening/treatment). Through bidirectional engagement with stakeholders via a Community Advisory Board and a Patient/Family Advisory Council, the COEE gathers input from patients, caregivers, safety-net healthcare systems, community organizations, and public health agencies on needs and priorities for research and works with SCCC research programs and local partners to design community initiatives. SCCC’s COEE Specific Aims are to: (1) assess cancer burden in the catchment area to prioritize research and outreach with a focus on cancer health disparities, (2) foster novel, catchment area- relevant research via internal and external stakeholder engagement, (3) implement outreach programs guided by stakeholder input and aligned with guidelines for cancer prevention and control, and (4) monitor impact of research and outreach programs. In addition, synergistic Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)-funded community partnerships have enhanced COEE’s reach beyond the SCCC’s 13-county catchment. Moving forward, COEE has led strategic planning around: (1) enhancing research initiatives in breast and prostate cancer, (2) improving minority accrual to clinical trials via Parkland Health, a safety-net system partner, and (3) expanding the reach of a redesigned tobacco counseling and lung screening program. Through a systematic approach and clear evaluation model, SCCC will ensure that research discoveries address catchment needs and are designed for implementation and dissemination by community providers and healthcare systems, thus creating sustainable positive impact on the SCCC catchment area and beyond.