- COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT (COE) The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) is a national and international leader in translational research, with a reputation for delivering high-quality patient care and effective outreach and education programs to residents of the state of Ohio - our catchment area (CA) - and beyond. The CA includes all 88 counties in Ohio, which have very diverse populations, with many underserved communities as well as urban, rural and Appalachian communities. Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH (CC) Associate Director for Population Science and Community Outreach and Director of the Center for Cancer Health Equity (CCHE) leads the Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) efforts for the OSUCCC. The CCHE is at the core of our COE efforts supporting the OSUCCC mission to reduce cancer health disparities throughout the CA. The CCHE is co- led by Darrell Gray II, MD, MPH, FACG (CC), who oversees the COE initiatives with the Clinical Trials Office to improve the accrual of women and minorities to clinical trials. COE works in the CA to connect minority populations to screening, outreach and engagement services. They also work with basic, clinical and population science program leaders in the OSUCCC to cultivate interest in CA-focused research including working with the Government Relations team and key faculty across the Center to pursue policy initiatives that address the cancer burden. COE efforts are supported by two Community Advisory Boards (rural and urban) that inform the focus and scope of CCHE activities and provide ongoing feedback to the OSUCCC leadership and Program leaders. The high priority cancers for the OSUCCC include lung, breast, colorectal, prostate, endometrial, cervical cancer, thyroid, and leukemia, as well as tobacco use, obesity and HPV vaccination. OSUCCC research and/or outreach and engagement efforts are ongoing to address these priority areas, via partnerships between the COE, OSUCCC research program members, and the community. To assess the impact of COE and OSUCCC efforts we have developed a logic model that includes short-term metrics of COE success: expanded reach (community members, patients); impact (services provided, time to diagnosis); collaborations (community partners, researchers); initiatives (grants funded); and clinical trial accrual (especially of underrepresented populations); and long-term metrics success including: reduced prevalence of risk factors and cancer rates, and longevity and impact of community partnerships. Over the last five years, we have had significant impact on HPV vaccination rates, accrual of minorities to clinical trials, breast cancer detection rates, navigation to screening and treatment, implementing translation for non-English speaking patients, fostering research to address the cancer burden in the CA. COE future plans focus on the priority cancers/risk behaviors of the OSUCCC as well as on 1) ensuring adequate communication between the community and the OSUCCC researchers as it relates to addressing the cancer burden in the catchment area and 2) a focus across the lifespan and expand to populations we are just beginning to work with (Asian, pediatric, rural clinics, LGBTQ) in order to reduce the cancer burden in our CA.
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