REACH Pima County Cervical Cancer Prevention Partnership; an integrated effort to eliminate cervical cancer disparities for Hispanic women

Background: Despite dramatic reductions in U.S. cervical cancer mortality over the last 50 years, Hispanic women continue to experience significant disparities related to cervical cancer. The Pima County Cervical Cancer Prevention Partnership (PCCCPP) a community-campus partnership received funding in 2007 from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health across the U. S. (REACH US) to eliminate these disparities. PCCCPP objectives include increasing knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer, training community health outreach workers, facilitating access to services, and implementing a patient navigation program for Mexican American women. The partnership builds on community strengths and leadership to develop sustainable, integrated strategies addressing multiple social determinants including but not limited to issues related to providers, access, health literacy, culture, language, transportation, health system, immigration, discrimination, communication, poverty and insurance status. This presentation focuses on identified strategies, initial outcomes and lessons learned. Methods: Community based participatory methods including survey, process and qualitative data were employed to evaluate the impact of these strategies. Results: The priority population identified social determinants of health impacting these disparities and developed sustainable strategies relevant to the culture and challenges facing this community. Conclusions: The root causes of health disparities are multifaceted, complex, and will take years of concentrated effort to eliminate. The initial results of the PCCCPP efforts reveal the importance of strong community based participatory approaches targeting specific social determinants of health to the development of sustainable interventions that are responsive to the culture and challenges of underserved communities.