Practice-Informed Evidence for Cancer Support

Recognizing and alleviating the distress of living with cancer are intuitive priorities of care in community-based minority serving cancer centers in the US. Grueling treatment demands over time compounded by long-standing social-economic stressors elevates distress especially for many Black and Hispanic cancer patients. Effective interventions to help manage distress necessitate a nuanced understanding of its complex determinants and a tailored strategy to address patient needs and tap into their resources. This is the aim of a 4-year collaborative project with the Howard University Cancer Center, led by Dr. Teletia Taylor (PI) and generously funded by the American Cancer Society. In partnership with the GCH lab, we will develop a Distress Screening Program that identifies individual and social determinants of distress among patients served at the Center. These findings will shape a patient navigation and referral intervention that will direct patients (when they are ready and interested) to supportive services that are tailored to their unique challenges. Results from evaluating the process and outcomes of this local evidence-informed intervention will serve as a model for local community-based minority serving cancer centers.