The UVA Cancer Center is reaching out to the people it serves to identify and overcome barriers to care.
With the help of the UVA Center for Survey Research, the Cancer Center is preparing to collect opinions from people in the 94 localities that are home to more than 80 percent of the Cancer Center’s patients. UVA is placing particular emphasis on reaching people who are often underrepresented in surveys – including rural residents, low-income residents, minorities and people aged 25 to 45.
The Best Care for Cancer
The research team will inquire about important topics including barriers to care, residents’ use of technology, their cancer screening and prevention behaviors and their attitudes toward genetic testing and medical research. UVA will do this through the traditional survey methods of phone calls and mailings, but the researchers are also taking advantage of social media: To reach those often left unreached, they plan to launch a social media campaign on both Facebook and Instagram.
Cancer Center leaders hope to collect opinions from at least 2,000 people. They plan to use the information to improve how the center serves its patients and to devise solutions to the problems that prevent people from getting the best care possible. The results could lead to new medical interventions, for example, or inform policy changes to improve public health, increase cancer prevention efforts and enhance cancer care.
“The UVA Cancer Center is dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer in the commonwealth through excellence in research, education, treatment and community service,” said Roger T. Anderson, PhD, of UVA’s Department of Public Health Sciences, the associate director for population sciences for the Cancer Center. “We are delighted that this NCI [National Cancer Institute] initiative will allow us to gain valuable insight in the commonwealth on where assistance is needed on topics such as increasing awareness of cancer prevention, stopping use of tobacco products, becoming physically active, reducing barriers to recommended cancer-screening services and getting access to the latest and most effective cancer therapies. We look forward to sharing the results of this survey with the many community partners, health systems and cancer prevention stakeholders throughout Virginia.”
About the Cancer Campaign
The outreach campaign is expected to begin in the coming weeks. The project is being coordinated by researcher Rajesh Balkrishnan, PhD, of UVA’s Department of Public Health Sciences.
“By collecting detailed behavioral data through this survey that are specific and representative to patients in the UVA Cancer Center area, we can understand region-specific risk factors and behaviors related to cancer,” Balkrishnan said. “This will enable researchers and clinicians at UVA to design interventions and treatment strategies that will most benefit patients.”
The research is being funded by NCI grant 3P30CA044579-27S5. The NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health.
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