Community Outreach and Engagement

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5.0 Abstract: Community Outreach and Engagement The University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) serves a catchment area of 5.4 million Marylanders living in a 10-county region of central Maryland that surrounds the Cancer Center, reflects the Baltimore-DC corridor, and includes the Maryland State capital of Annapolis. Eighty percent of our analytic tumor registry cases originate in this area, which is notably 32% African American. Baltimore City is 62% African American and has a median income substantially lower and tobacco use rates considerably higher than averages in Maryland and the United States. These factors make racial/ethnic and socioeconomically rooted cancer disparities a critical priority for the Cancer Center. UMGCCC brings considerable infrastructure to support community outreach and engagement (COE) activities, including an experienced core team, a highly engaged and cancer-focused Community Advisory Board, a cadre of lay Cancer Health Ambassadors recruited from the catchment area, and a host of longstanding community partnerships that facilitate and support our work. We apply this infrastructure to the overall goal of COE: apply community outreach and engagement strategies to inform UMGCCC research and make an impact along the cancer continuum in the catchment area, with a particular focus on eliminating cancer disparities. The aims of COE are to describe the UMGCCC catchment area using a data-driven approach, conduct evidence-based and impactful cancer control activities, and apply COE strategies to inform research and support integration of COE throughout the UMGCCC Programs. This involves communicating community needs to UMGCCC leadership and ensuring that clinical trial enrollments reflect the demographics of our catchment area and that research priorities are aligned with our COE strategic planning process. Our four-pronged strategic planning process used to identify COE priorities, activities, and metrics includes analysis of catchment area data, community needs assessment, Community Advisory Board engagement, and UMGCCC leadership and program inreach. This process guided UMGCCC activities during the past grant cycle and drives our future plans with regard to priority populations, partnerships, cancer risk factors, and cancers of focus. Therefore, we are well positioned to make a significant impact along the cancer continuum in our catchment area in the years ahead.