153619 Direct Funding to the Community: Lessons from a Multilevel Collaboration to Develop Community-based Oncology Programs for Disenfranchised Populations

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Keith H. Morgenlander, MPH , Assistant Professor, Depts. of Heme/Onc and Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, McKeesport, PA
Barbara Klewien, BS , UPMC McKeesport Hospital, Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative, McKeesport, PA
Sibyl McNelly, BSN, MS , Radiation Oncology, Somerset Cancer Center, Somerset, PA
Larry Schenken, PhD , UPMC McKeesport Hospital, Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative, McKeesport, PA
Karen Schwaderer, RN, BSN, OCN , UPMC McKeesport Hospital, Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative, McKeesport, PA
Chyongchiou Jeng Lin, PhD , University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Pittsburgh, PA
Dwight E. Heron, MD , Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Collaborative research, education and health service delivery models have become ubiquitous requirements within projects whose outcomes target a reduction in health disparities. However, it is rare for the locus of control within this relationship to shift away from academia and for significant grant funding to be provided directly to the community-based organizations. The Cancer Disparities Research Program (CDRP), sponsored by the Radiation Research Program of the National Cancer Institute, seeks to enhance the community's ability to drive the development of disparities-oriented research by providing research funding directly to community hospital. The CDRP envisioned enhanced collaboration between disenfranchised populations and community-based cancer research, with academic researchers serving in more of a consultative role.

The UPMC McKeesport/Radiation Oncology Community Outreach Group Minorities Outreach Project (ROCOG) has addressed the CDRP goals through a variety of collaborative relationships, including: (1) meeting neighborhood needs and engagement of at-risk populations through local, credible agencies, (2) improvement in access-to-care through integration of patient navigation within community treatment programs, (3) utilization of telecommunications technology to stimulate collaboration and (4) development of collaborative governance and shared program infrastructure. Using these strategies, ROCOG has developed a core consortium of five community hospitals and has partnered with key agencies within the service areas of each hospital and with four academic “mentors”.

The objective of this presentation is to review the policy and operational implications of directing funding to communities for community-based research and to examine our strategy to maximize the impact of these funds through collaboration.

Learning Objectives:
Identify the key policy and operational issues associated with the Cancer Disparities Research Partnership (CDRP) funding model and how it may represent a new opportunity for enhancing community-based research. Identify at least one key collaborative relationship and the proposed value of the relationship among grant staff, our partner academic institutions, community hospitals, community physicians, community agencies and patients/cancer survivors. Critique the program design and prioritize relationships for future project replication.

Keywords: Collaboration, Community-Based Public Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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