Abstract Racial and ethnic minority groups, including Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities, experience multilevel barriers to cancer screening and enrollment into cancer clinical trials. Such barriers include low health literacy, mistrust in the healthcare system, and access to affordable healthcare. To address these barriers, a pilot outreach program was developed with the primary aims to build partnerships between rural Oahu communities and healthcare systems through collaboration between a Community Health Educator (CHE), a healthcare provider (HCP), and a clinic research coordinator (CRC); and identify and address barriers to breast cancer screening through a culturally appropriate, cost-effective approach, leveraging the CHE as the main intermediary to make real-time adjustments based on community needs. In this pilot program, we utilized a culturally congruent and gender concordant Community Health Educator (CHE), medical oncology health care provider (HCP), and clinic research coordinator (CRC) team to engage with Oahu’s rural underserved communities to facilitate enrollment into the Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST) breast cancer screening trial. From June 2022 to June 2023, the CHE/HCP/CRC team facilitated 52 outreach events across Oahu that held approximately 20,000 attendees. A total of 92 women were screened for TMIST. Of those, 12 were enrolled in TMIST and an additional 32 participants received mammograms. The CHE/HCP/CRC team provided breast cancer education, connected participants to screening opportunities, and gathered feedback on perceived barriers. Insights from participants highlighted the critical role of the CHE in building trust, improving understanding of breast cancer screening, and fostering connections between the community and healthcare services. This pilot program emphasizes the value of culturally tailored, community-based approaches in addressing screening disparities and strengthening partnerships in underserved populations.
Chun et al. (Wed,) studied this question.