UPMC McKeesport/ROCOG Radiation Oncology Minorities Outreach Program

OBJECTIVES:

• Develop, over five years, and implement a shared infrastructure that will permit participating community cancer centers to participate in radiation oncology clinical research and dramatically increase their rate of trial accrual above historical patterns.
• Increase access to radiation oncology services and clinical trials for underserved minority and/or low-income patients in the target areas, through community and professional education and outreach activities.
• Assess and ensure the quality of radiation oncology services at participating facilities through the use of a new integrated radiation oncology outcomes database and a quality assurance program, benchmarking daily practice patterns to clinical practice protocol.
• Compare treatment approaches and outcomes for cervical, colorectal, lung, prostate, breast, and head and neck cancers across racial and socioeconomic status groups.
• Conduct community intervention pilot programs that advance the understanding of factors that lead to health disparities.
• Develop and implement clinical treatment studies that attempt to reduce or eliminate health disparities through novel treatment approaches.
• Develop and refine a model program that can be sustained by the community treatment facilities long after study completion, and that the National Cancer Institute or other similarly motivated funders can replicate within other regions.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Patients are enrolled in the Patient Navigator program, an initiative to promote equal access and quality of cancer care. Patients undergo an interview with the Patient Navigator, who is an oncology health professional, over approximately 1 hour to identify specific needs, in terms of receiving cancer care. The interview serves as a basis for developing a plan to assist patients through treatment and follow up. The Patient Navigator meets the patient, in person or over the phone, at various times during treatment to help the patient overcome barriers to completion of cancer therapy. The Patient Navigator then provides yearly follow up to facilitate continued medical follow up. Patients complete surveys before and after program participation.

Patients are followed periodically to determine their current status in cancer therapy.