Improving cancer screening and prevention education services in urban medically underserved areas (MUAs) within health-disparate populations in Texas has been the focus of significant and ongoing concern. Low-income individuals residing in medically underserved areas of Texas suffer from significantly higher cancer incidence and mortality rates. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are community-based organizations providing comprehensive primary and preventive care. Thus, they are a critical component of the health care safety net. FHQCs play an important role in reducing the cancer burden among the populations they serve via cancer education, screening, and early detection. Wit...

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Improving cancer screening and prevention education services in urban medically underserved areas (MUAs) within health-disparate populations in Texas has been the focus of significant and ongoing concern. Low-income individuals residing in medically underserved areas of Texas suffer from significantly higher cancer incidence and mortality rates. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are community-based organizations providing comprehensive primary and preventive care. Thus, they are a critical component of the health care safety net. FHQCs play an important role in reducing the cancer burden among the populations they serve via cancer education, screening, and early detection. With our community-led approach to making cancer-related preventive services available via Legacy Community Health, an FHQC, in collaboration with HMNCC and TAMUHSC, we hope to make substantial contributions to screening and early detection of breast, cervical, colorectal, and hepatitis C virus (HCV)/liver cancer, and reduction of mortality rates among these medically underserved populations. This collaborative cancer screening and early detection program may serve as a community-partner model for addressing the significant need for more evidence-based cancer prevention and care focusing on MUA populations. This CPRIT project will employ a community-led linkage from the community to the clinical provider approach to making cancer-related preventive services available via FHQCS in collaboration with HMNCC and TAMUHSC to three Legacy Community Health HRSA service areas (1) Greater Fifth Ward Lyons, (2) Santa Clara, and (3) San Jacinto/Baytown. We hope to contribute substantially to screening and early detection of breast, cervical, colorectal, and hepatitis C virus (HCV)/liver cancer and reduce mortality rates among these medically underserved populations. This collaborative cancer screening and early detection program is a community-partner model for addressing the significant need for more evidence-based cancer prevention and care focusing on medically underserved populations. Overall Project Strategy: Through funding provided by CPRIT P-24.1-CSD, our proposed program will allow evidence-based cancer/HCV education, screening and follow-up diagnostic services, and treatment directly to individuals, along with additional cancer prevention education, patient care, and navigation services focusing on medically underserved populations. This proposed project seeks to provide breast, cervical, colorectal, and liver cancer prevention education, screening services, and patient navigation across the continuum of care to underinsured, uninsured, and medically underserved populations. Led by HMNCC in conjunction with Legacy Community Health, this project will provide much-needed cancer screening and early detection services to sociodemographically diverse, medically underserved individuals. Specific Goals: Goal 1. Cancer/HCV Screening: Provide breast, cervical, colorectal, and HCV/liver cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured/underinsured, medically underserved Legacy patients at three sites over three years. (Detailed plans laid out in the proposal). Goal 2. Navigation into Diagnosis and Treatment: Navigate patients to treatment and follow-up diagnostics to reduce barriers to cancer/HCV screening, including time from diagnostic resolution to treatment and the number of individuals lost to follow-up in the continuum of cancer health care over three years. (Detailed plans laid out in the proposal). Goal 3. Deliver Evidence-Based Literacy Appropriate Cancer/HCV Screening Awareness And Education: Directly and indirectly reach medically underserved populations through cancer prevention education and outreach specific to breast, cervical, colorectal, and/or HCV/liver cancer over three years. (Detailed plans laid out in the proposal). Significance & Impact This collaborative cancer screening and early detection program will address a significant lack of cancer screening access and disparities in Greater Fifth Ward, Santa Clara, and San Jacinto/Baytown). Further, we fully expect to provide a replicable community-partner model for addressing the significant need for more evidence-based cancer prevention and care focusing on MUA populations. The proposed C-CUR program leverages well-established partnerships and incorporates dissemination of evidence-based cancer education, implementation of evidence-based cancer screening/early detection, and culturally appropriate education and navigation of patients.

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