Expansion of Texas A&M'S Cancer Prevention Program to Rural and Medically Underserved Women
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NEED: Low-income women residing in rural and medically underserved areas (MUAs) of Texas (TX) suffer from significantly higher incidence and mortality rates associated with some cancers (Risser, 2012; Ojinnaka, 2016). Barriers to cancer screenings among rural TX women may include driving distance, lack of transportation, fear of finding cancer, language barriers, or even medical mistrust. Family medicine physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners (NPs), and community health workers (CHWs) working in rural underserved areas play an important role in ensuring provision of evidence-based screenings and education, provided in a safe and culturally sensitive environment. TX ranks 46th among all... Read More NEED: Low-income women residing in rural and medically underserved areas (MUAs) of Texas (TX) suffer from significantly higher incidence and mortality rates associated with some cancers (Risser, 2012; Ojinnaka, 2016). Barriers to cancer screenings among rural TX women may include driving distance, lack of transportation, fear of finding cancer, language barriers, or even medical mistrust. Family medicine physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners (NPs), and community health workers (CHWs) working in rural underserved areas play an important role in ensuring provision of evidence-based screenings and education, provided in a safe and culturally sensitive environment. TX ranks 46th among all states for breast cancer screening and 43rd for pap test screening (NCI SEER, 2020). TX also has the highest age-adjusted incidence rate of hepatocellular (liver) cancer (HCC) (ACS, n.d.). Efforts to prevent HCC include risk factor assessment and education, and testing for the Hepatitis C virus thought to be responsible for 50% of all HCCs (CDC, 2019; Knight, 2018). For skin cancer, another lifestyle-related cancer, higher rates for melanoma have been reported in rural versus metropolitan areas (Blake, Moss, Gaysynsky et al. 2017). Initially funded by CPRIT in 2013, TX Cancer Screening, Training, Education and Prevention (C-STEP) provided 3,503 breast and cervical cancer clinical services, reached 276,000 persons with prevention education, and directly served almost 12,000 women with education or navigation. According to CPRIT portfolio maps, no CPRIT-funded prevention programs for liver cancer screening and early detection exist in 14 of the current 17 C-STEP counties (CPRIT, 2019). OVERALL PROJECT STRATEGY: The proposed expansion plan (PP200070) will allow TX A&M Family Medicine Residency, College of Nursing, and School of Public Health to provide 4,235 evidence-based screening and diagnostic services to 1,800 unique women, and serve 12,000 people directly with education, patient care, or navigation services ‐ focusing on low-income, rural and/or medically underserved women.........
