While the past decade has seen tremendous advances in translating research findings into public health practices to reduce cancer risks, these successes have not been realized by all members of society representing various race, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.1 In spite of efforts underway by many researchers, many developers of control research education and outreach interventions do not fully consider the literacy skills and cultural beliefs, values, and language and linguistic preferences of the intended audience. Cancer communications that are delivered above the literacy level of patients and without consideration of cultural influences can be a potential liability for those who that patients can understand and act on information. 2-3 Meeting the challenge of a strong research agenda in cancer control requires an understanding of and consideration of culture and literacy in all phases of program and intervention development. Additionally, it requires a high degree of inter-disciplinary collaborations, including the involvement of minority researchers, to effectively incorporate the elements of cancer, culture and literacy into meaningful research outcomes. Building on the strengths of our respective institutions (PRCC and HLMCC) we aim: 1) to create a series of focused communications to fuel discussions about mutual discussions about mutual areas of cancer communications research to reach Hispanic and low literacy populations; and, 2) to prioritize research ideas for pilot projects in years 2-3 which will ultimately lead to competitively funded applications. We anticipate that the planning activities proposed in this project will lead to a synergy for enhanced research productivity, will serve to increase involvement of minority researcher sin cancer research, and have the potential to reduce disparities in cancer incidence and mortality in minority populations. Relationships of this Project to the Overall Objectives of the Collaboration. The establishment of the Education/Outreach Working Group strongly supports the overall and broader aims of the proposed planning grant. Specifically, the sharing of research ideas, of interest to both PRCC and HLMCC, will create a pivotal starting point for a grant. Specifically, the sharing the research ideas, of interest to both PRCC and HLMCC, will create a pivotal starting point for a mutually beneficial and stable research partnership and stable research partnership within the cancer control arena. Further, these close interactions will take advantage of the considerable expertise and experience from our respective institutions to involve and support minority scientists, to increase knowledge about Hispanic culture, and to positively impact the health of minority populations. In the future, such interactions are expected to result in the initiation of pilot projects that will strengthen cancer research at both institutions and to contribute to new knowledge about effective cancer communications for Hispanic and low literacy populations across the continuum of cancer control care.
| Chen, Lu; Engel, Brienne E; Welsh, Eric A et al. (2016) A Sensitive NanoString-Based Assay to Score STK11 (LKB1) Pathway Disruption in Lung Adenocarcinoma. J Thorac Oncol 11:838-49 |
| Mora, Edna; Robb, James A; Stefanoff, Gustavo et al. (2014) Proceedings of the 1st Puerto Rico Biobanking Workshop. Rev Recent Clin Trials 9:233-44 |
| Cangiano, Jose; Centeno, Barbara A; Garrett, Christopher R et al. (2008) Signal transduction proteins in tumors from Puerto Rican and Caucasian gastric adenocarcinoma patients: expression differences with potential for specific targeted therapies. Dig Dis Sci 53:2090-100 |
| Chirikos, Thomas N; Lopez-Garcia, Josefina; Cintron Vargas, Cristobal et al. (2007) Evaluation of breast cancer care under Puerto Rico's Health Care Reform. J Health Care Poor Underserved 18:116-38 |
