Abstract B080: UC Davis Center for Advancing Cancer Health Equity: A framework for community-led cancer health interventions

Abstract Many racial/ethnic groups in the US experience cancer health disparities, contributing to higher cancer incidence and cancer-related deaths compared to other groups. These are driven by a combination of biological and social determinants of health that affect cancer development and care response across the cancer health continuum. Underserved communities in California, many of which are communities of color, experience combinations of these factors that result in a unique landscape of barriers to cancer care. Because of this, interventions to remove these barriers cannot follow a one-fits-all approach. There is a critical need for community-directed interventions that reflect the cultural and social values of the members of a specific community to effectively identify and eliminate barriers to care. Through the UC Davis Center for Advancing Cancer Health Equity (CACHE), we have developed an infrastructure to design and implement community-directed interventions as a partnership between community members and the cancer research community at UC Davis. CACHE was launched in 2022 with the purpose of conducting community-engaged research to implement multi-level interventions for cancer health equity. CACHE is focused on placing underserved communities located in UC Davis’ catchment area at its center through community member ownership and leadership of the center’s research decision-making process. In this initial phase, the center recruited health professionals and community members throughout Northern California to participate in focus groups that inform the development of the center’s mission and vision, and name. Through these focus groups, our center identified community values and terminology that helped to guide and set expectations for its goals, actions and trust-building with underserved communities. The center establishes lasting community relationships through the development of task forces, whose goal is to identify community cancer health priorities to address through research. Given the significant cancer health disparities for American Indian and Alaska Natives in California, the first task force CACHE established is focused on Native and Indigenous cancer health. It consists of both academic researchers and community and Tribal leaders. Our task force began a cancer health needs assessment in partnership with multiple Tribal Nations and non-profit health center Northern Valley Indian Health. Native and Indigenous community conversations have uncovered cancer health and prevention education, transportation, and medical and research communities’ trustworthiness as barriers. We are now working to expand our understanding of these barriers for research interventions leading to improve Native and Indigenous cancer health. Ultimately, the goal of CACHE and its task forces is to develop community-led interventions to eliminate cancer care barriers in partnership with communities, and move towards cancer health equity for all. Citation Format: Nicole B. Halmai, Sophie Barbu, Angelica Rolon, Inigo Verduzco Gallo, Nanci Chavarria Villa, Guadalupe Carvajal, Luis G. Carvajal- Carmona. UC Davis Center for Advancing Cancer Health Equity: A framework for community-led cancer health interventions abstract. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B080.