Scientific Report 2005
Strategic Plan
Cancer Health Disparities Program
Karen M. Emmons, PhD, Faculty Leader
Despite improvements in cancer survival over the past few decades, many populations in the United States still do not benefit equally from advances in cancer education, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. The burden of cancer disproportionately affects individuals who are racial and ethnic minorities, non-English speaking, or from low socioeconomic backgrounds. African Americans are more likely to develop and die from cancer than people of any other racial and ethnic group. Moreover, the mortality rate of all cancers combined is about 30% higher in African Americans than white Americans.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has an opportunity and imperative to lead the effort to reduce cancer disparities. Consequently, DFCI strategic planners created an initiative to bring Institute resources and expertise to bear on this long-standing problem, by establishing the Cancer Health Disparities Program. The goal of the program is to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in cancer screening, early detection, treatment, and survivorship, as well as to improve outcomes of care. This comprehensive effort will initially focus on five key areas:
- Measurement of health disparities through better data collection and reporting on access, utilization, and treatment by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
- Population-based, longitudinal cohort studies of cancer-related outcomes by race and ethnicity, conducted in collaboration with Karen Emmons, PhD, and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC).
- Cultural competency and cross-cultural educational programs for all DFCI staff and evaluation tools to assess the impact of these programs.
- Workforce diversity initiatives to increase the proportion of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities among health professionals within DFCI.
- New initiatives - including a patient navigator program and prostate cancer outreach and screening - that will be evaluated to assess effectiveness and determine best practice.
The Executive Committee on Health Disparities, chaired by DFCI President Edward J. Benz Jr., MD, has been established to oversee the Cancer Health Disparities Program, and recruitment of a director is currently under way. The committee reflects broad representation from the leadership of Medical Oncology, Nursing and Patient Care Services, Human Resources, and Community Benefits, as well as from DF/HCC, the DFCI Board of Trustees, health departments of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts State Legislature, and the American Cancer Society.
