Co-Creating a Multilevel Intervention to Enhance Equity in Cancer Genetics Services

Project Dates: 2022-2024

Genetic testing is an increasingly important component of comprehensive cancer care. The presence or absence of specific mutations can help guide treatment selection, increasing survival time and reducing treatment-related morbidity. Additionally, the identification of an inherited mutation can help at-risk family members make informed decisions about their own cancer screening and prevention measures. Despite their growing clinical utility, cancer genetic services do not reach all eligible patients nationally or locally. Data also indicate that Black patients are less likely to receive cancer genetic services than their White peers. Reducing racial disparities in cancer genetic services is critical to achieving health equity in precision oncology.

Project Goals:

• Engage community, clinical, and academic partners to collaboratively review current cancer genetic services and identify appropriate theories, frameworks, and evidence-based interventions.
• Collaboratively design a multilevel intervention prototype and collect stakeholder feedback.

• Develop a hybrid effectiveness-implementation study to test the intervention package and evaluate its implementation in a future funded research grant

Implications for Research and Practice:

Using a transcreation approach to intervention development, and rooting the process in a shared understanding of the structural racism and determinants of health, is an innovative approach to increase health equity in cancer genetic services. This project aligns closely with the priority areas identified by the WU-ISC3 community partners and will actively engage both community and clinical stakeholders. The primary research products will be a multilevel intervention package coupled with a rigorous research proposal to test the effectiveness of the intervention and efficacy of the implementation

Project Contact:  Erin Linnenbringer

Project Team: Ashley Housten, Foluso Ademuyiwa