Community Outreach and Engagement

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) for Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Winship) has been built on a strong foundation of catchment area assessment, community-engaged research, and dissemination of evidence-based interventions. In its efforts to reduce cancer disparities in Winship's catchment area, the state of Georgia, COE has assessed the cancer burden and priorities; identified special populations of interest and significant disparities; collaborated with community partners on strategic planning; established measurable outcomes; and thoughtfully allocated its budget in support of infrastructure and activities to advance COE goals. The availability of unique resources to support population-based studies, e.g., the Georgia SEER state-wide registry and regional cancer coalitions, has been highlighted and strengthened. With the appointment of a new cancer center Executive Director, Suresh Ramalingam, MD (DDT), and a new associate director for COE, Theresa Gillespie, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN (CPC), and in collaboration with Winship's Community Advisory Board and statewide partners, Winship COE has launched a novel series of innovative and wide-ranging endeavors. New approaches have been established to ensure bi-directional communication with community and patient stakeholders, across the entire cancer research continuum. Community partnerships inform and guide Winship research program portfolios, clinical trials, dissemination and outreach, and translation to policy. The overall goal of COE is to facilitate catchment area-relevant research, including community-engaged research, and disseminate evidence-based interventions, to reduce disparities and the cancer burden across Georgia. This goal will be accomplished through three specific aims: (1) assess, prioritize, monitor, and communicate catchment area needs and priorities; (2) facilitate and inform Winship programmatic research portfolios, clinical trials, and strategic planning responsive to catchment area priorities through bi-directional exchanges with community stakeholders; and (3) disseminate evidence-based interventions and promote policy impact and translation to the catchment area, nationally and globally. COE initiated a comprehensive approach to catchment area assessment, priority-setting, and communication internally and externally. To study underlying basic mechanisms that contribute to poor outcomes and disparities in Georgia, COE hosted discussions on mechanistic models and connected basic, translational, and population scientists with community and patient advocates, resulting in submission of multiple proposals. COE transformed accrual monitoring and redesign of the clinical trials process for investigator-initiated studies, so that both patient advocates and population scientists/disparities experts are directly involved with trials development from the concept phase onward. To promote dissemination of evidence-based interventions, screening, and clinical trials accrual, COE-funded FTEs are embedded in regional cancer coalitions to advance research priorities and reduce cancer burden. COE encouraged adoption of statewide and national policy for impact beyond the catchment area.