Urban Cancer Project: A Solution to a Deadly Disparity; Cleveland Project in Spotlight at Congressional Black Caucus Natl Meeting

9/23/2003

From: Alison Bibb or Alicia Reale, 216-844-3825; both of the University Hospitals of Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Sept. 23 -- A Cleveland-based effort to improve cancer detection and survival among African Americans is being praised as a national model at this year's Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. The Urban Cancer Project(r) was launched in Cleveland nearly four years ago, with National Cancer Institute funding, and is demonstrating inspiring results, including a measurable increase in awareness among low-income minorities about cancer and the importance of being part of breakthrough cancer research.

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) is hosting a two-hour workshop during the Congressional Black Caucus 33rd Annual Legislative Conference's Health Braintrust designed to help other congressional offices and advocacy groups around the country spearhead similar efforts in their communities. The workshop, entitled "The Urban Cancer Project(r): A Solution to a Deadly Disparity," will take place on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2003 from 12 - 2 p.m. at the Washington Convention Center in Room 147A. Attendees will receive a video CD-ROM and a "how-to" kit to guide them in their own outreach efforts.

The key to the Urban Cancer Project(r) is the production of video communications designed with significant input from the urban community most affected by cancer disparities. Producers from Cleveland-based Public Health Television (PHTV) conducted 44 focus group sessions with residents of Cleveland's public housing community to better understand barriers that discourage low-income African Americans from getting screened for cancer, adhering to treatment, or participating in clinical research studies that offer the most promising treatment outcomes.

PHTV took cues from these residents to produce culturally relevant video messages, which then aired on local television. Also produced was a video to be shown to physicians who treat cancer, in order to sensitize them to issues relevant to low-income minority patients, and another video for African American patients, their families and community to help them better understand the importance of cancer research and participation in clinical trials. These video presentations are entirely unique, reflecting the community's desire for detailed and graphic medical information to be presented in a culturally compelling way, including references to art, poetry, and religion.

The project is a collaboration of social scientists, medical professionals and communications specialists. Medical direction for the project comes from the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC) and Case Western Reserve University. James Willson, MD, Director of the Ireland Cancer Center at UHC and Case, will appear before the Congressional Black Caucus, along with Andrew Von Eschenbach, MD, Director of the National Cancer Institute; Wornie Reed, PhD, Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at Cleveland State University; and Carla Harwell, MD, Medical Director of the Otis Moss Jr. - University Hospitals Medical Center, a community health center serving African Americans.

The reality that African Americans have approximately a 33 percent greater chance of dying from cancer than white Americans was the impetus behind this project. "Nationwide, cancer centers are trying to reach out to the minority community, to help them understand the importance of screening, early detection, and participation in clinical trials," says Dr. Willson, medical advisor to the project. "The rest of the country can learn from what we are doing here in Cleveland to make a difference through culturally sensitive television programming and other creative forms of video communications."

The Urban Cancer Project(r) was supported by Grant number 2R44CA80587-02 from the National Cancer Institute. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the producers and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCI.