Community Outreach & Engagement (COE)

Albert Einstein College Of Medicine, Bronx NY

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY - COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT The Albert Einstein Cancer Center's (AECC) catchment area is the Bronx NY. The Bronx population of 1.46 million includes 10% non-Hispanic White, 30% non-Hispanic Black, and 55% Hispanic/Latino of any race, with 35% of all residents foreign born. The Bronx is one of the poorest urban counties in the US, with 28% of families living in poverty. This catchment area aligns with AECC's clinical presence and public health programming. AECC is affiliated with the Montefiore Health System, the Bronx' major clinical and public health facility. Annually, Montefiore serves ~500,000 (36%) Bronx residents. About 87% of Montefiore hospital discharges live in the Bronx. Key partners for community outreach and engagement within the Health System include: a care management organization of 3,400+ providers caring for more than 225,000 members; a practice-based primary care research network hosting 600,000 visits/year; a system-wide health education and community outreach program; and the largest and most comprehensive school health network in the US. Montefiore treated over 20,000 patients with cancer over the past 5 years, >65% ethnic and racial minorities. Montefiore cancer care provides psycho-oncology, educational, wellness, peer support and navigation programs tailored to Bronx survivors and families. There is an established AECC community council to advise patient support and outreach programs. To set priorities for COE, AECC worked with an expanded Bronx Community Cancer Advisory Board and health system partners to review AECC research along with surveillance data. The highest incidence malignancies in the Bronx are prostate, breast, colorectal and lung cancers. Cancers associated with obesity and with endemic HIV, HCV and HPV infections are of particular concern, as are stomach cancer and multiple myeloma. Smoking rates are high among people living with HIV, substance users, and others affected by social determinants of health. Low rates of screening are related to disconnection from the health system, financial insecurity, medical mistrust and negative attitudes about screening and treatment. Cancer patients experience high levels of pain, symptoms and psychological distress, as well difficulty with treatment adherence. Many survivors deal with multiple chronic conditions and require assistance managing behavioral, psychosocial and economic impact of cancer. Based on this analysis, AECC's COE will focus on Community Access and Adherence to Cancer Prevention and Screening and Cancer Care Coordination and Supportive Care. Specific aims are: to drive local cancer prevention and control by conducting and disseminating surveillance; to enable clinical, public health and community partners to implement and evaluate annual evidence-based demonstration projects; to bring AECC investigators together with COE partners to foster novel collaborations; and to sustain and disseminate successful strategies in the catchment area and beyond. To accomplish these aims, a COE Team will work with local partners, guided by an executive-level COE Coordinating Committee with input from the Bronx Community Cancer Advisory Board.