BackgroundCommunity health workers (CHW) can perform unique functions to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based interventions for infection-related cancer prevention and control, and alleviate minoritized and immigration-related disparities.PurposeWe describe the implementation evaluation of three CHW-delivered infection-related cancer programs focused on Asian American (AA) communities in New York City: 1) a H. pylori treatment adherence program for Chinese and Korean Americans; 2) a HPV screening program for Muslim Americans; and 3) a hepatitis B screening, linkage to care, and treatment program for AA and other priority communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedical mistrust, clinical trial knowledge, and clinical trial risk impact research participation, yet are rarely studied among racial and ethnic groups. Data were from a cross-sectional survey (n = 1,788). Multinomial logistic regression models examined associations of medical mistrust, clinical trial knowledge, and clinical trial risk with willingness to participate in health research (Yes, No, Unsure) among Chinese, Korean, South Asian, Haitian, North American Latiné, South American Latiné, and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) NYC residents with one model per group Overall, 46.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates are lower among immigrant populations in the United States (US) than the general population. Immigrant communities face structural barriers that disincentivize their engagement from CRC screening. A growing body of literature has evaluated the effects of interventions aimed at increasing CRC screening engagement among various immigrant groups, but there has not yet been a systematic synthesis of this literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Educ Behav
August 2025
Minoritized communities often experience worse health outcomes on the cancer continuum. Mainstream strategies may have limited reach and utility to populations experiencing inequities in real-world settings. Through the combined use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and social marketing strategies, which highlight community-centered and culturally adapted processes, we provide an approach to inform future intervention research across various health topics that has been successful in engaging minoritized and understudied communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
November 2024
Background: Asian New York City residents have the lowest cancer screening uptake across race and ethnicity. Few studies have examined screening differences across Asian ethnic subgroups in New York City.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were analyzed using multivariable logistic and multinomial regression analyses.
Introduction: Immigration has been identified as an important social determinant of health (SDH), embodying structures and policies that reinforce positions of poverty, stress, and limited social and economic mobility. In the public health literature with regard to diet, immigration is often characterized as an individual-level process (dietary acculturation) and is largely examined in one racial/ethnic subgroup at a time. For this narrative review, we aim to broaden the research discussion by describing SDH common to the immigrant experience and that may serve as barriers to healthy diets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Causes Control
September 2024
The National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded program, supports cancer coalitions across the United States (US) in efforts to prevent and control cancer including development of comprehensive cancer control (CCC) plans. CCC plans often focus health equity within their priorities, but it is unclear to what extent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, plus (LGBTQ+) populations are considered in CCC plans. We qualitatively examined to what extent LGBTQ+ populations were referenced in 64 U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Racial Ethn Health Disparities
April 2025
Patient race/ethnicity data collection in most U.S. health systems abide by federal standards, determined by the federal Office of Management and Budget.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
February 2024
Addressing social risks in cancer prevention and control presents a new opportunity for accelerating cancer health equity. As members of the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) Cancer Health Disparities Special Interest Group, we describe the current state of science on social risks in oncology research and practice. To reduce and eliminate the unjust burden of cancer, we also provide recommendations for multilevel research examining social risks as contributors to inequities and the development of social risks-focused interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Community Health Partnersh
November 2023
Background: Despite the need to consider multiple sources of evidence to guide locally and culturally relevant interventions, few studies have documented the process by which evidence is integrated.
Objectives: We leveraged a community-academic partnership to describe a participatory approach to integrating community and academic sources of evidence to inform cancer programming priorities in the Arab American (ArA) community in Southwest Chicago.
Methods: Informed by Intervention Mapping, this study comprised three phases led by community and academic partners: 1) qualitative assessment of cancer-related priorities through eight focus groups with 48 ArA community members, 2) a focused literature review to identify models of cancer interventions implemented with ArAs, and 3) integration of focus group and literature review findings and development of a strategy for a community-based cancer program administered by the community partner.
Cancer Causes Control
December 2023
This article highlights the importance of pausing and reflecting on one's motivation, capacity, and positionality when engaging in health equity research and encourages researchers to engage in critical self-reflection and contribute to the ongoing dialogue on the ethical conduct of health equity-focused cancer research. In response to the urgent need to address health disparities and improve health equity in cancer survivorship care, the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) Survivorship workgroup discussed developing a study focused on understanding how racism impacts patient engagement in cancer survivorship care. However, during the study's development, the workgroup recognized limitations in research team composition and infrastructure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis scoping review characterizes the peer-reviewed evidence on the health of first-generation sexual and gender minority (SGM) migrant women to the United States and identifies research gaps and future priorities. On February 1, 2022, the following databases were searched: PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, APA PsycINFO, and PAIS Index. Primary research studies based in the United States, in English, on first-generation SGM migrants (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Causes Control
December 2023
Purpose: To apply principles of group model building (GMB), a participatory systems science approach, to identify barriers and opportunities for collective impact around nutrition programming to reduce cancer risk for immigrant communities in an urban environment.
Methods: We convened four in-person workshops applying GMB with nine community partners to generate causal loop diagrams (CLDs)-a visual representation of hypothesized causal relationships between variables and feedback structures within a system. GMB workshops prompted participants to collaboratively identify programmatic goals and challenges related to (1) community gardening, (2) nutrition education, (3) food assistance programs, and (4) community-supported agriculture.
This scoping review provides an overview of cancer interventions implemented with Arab Americans across the cancer control continuum, including an examination of outcomes and implementation processes. The search strategy included database searching and reviewing reference lists and forward citations to identify articles describing interventions with Arab adults living in the US, with no restrictions on date of publication or research methodology. The review included 23 papers describing 12 unique cancer interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Causes Control
December 2023
Purpose: Although there is national recognition for health equity-oriented research, there is limited guidance for researchers to engage partnerships that promote health equity in cancer research. The Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network's (CPCRN) Health Equity Work Group developed a toolkit to guide researchers in equitable collaborations.
Methods: The CPCRN's Health Equity Work Group collectively outlined health and racial equity principles guiding research collaborations with partners that include communities, community-based organizations, implementing partners in the clinical setting including providers and health care organizations, and policy makers.
Reflecting their commitment to advancing health equity, the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) established a Health Equity Workgroup to identify and distill guiding principles rooted in health equity, community-engaged participatory research (CBPR), social determinants of health, and racial equity frameworks to guide its collective work. The Health Equity Workgroup utilized a multi-phase, participatory consensus-building approach to: (1) identify recurrent themes in health and racial equity frameworks; (2) capture perspectives on and experiences with health equity research among CPCRN members through an online survey; (3) engage in activities to discuss and refine the guiding principles; and (4) collect case examples of operationalizing equity principles in cancer research. Representatives from all CPCRN centers endorsed nine core principles to guide the Network's strategic plan: (1) Engage in power-sharing and capacity building with partners; (2) Address community priorities through community engagement and co-creation of research; (3) Explore and address the systems and structural root causes of cancer disparities; (4) Build a system of accountability between research and community partners; (5) Establish transparent relationships with community partners; (6) Prioritize the sustainability of research benefits for community partners; (7) Center racial equity in cancer prevention and control research; (8) Engage in equitable data collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination practices; and (9) Integrate knowledge translation, implementation, and dissemination into research plans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Community Health Partnersh
April 2024
Objectives: To determine whether actual community-level risk for COVID-19 in the Black community influenced perceptions of community-level and personal risk and how self-assessment of personal risk was reflected in the adoption of COVID-19 precautionary behaviors.
Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 Black Chicago adults from February to July 2021. A grounded theory approach was used for the qualitative analysis and initial, focused, and theoretical coding were performed.
We examine the efficacy of MARHABA, a social marketing-informed, lay health worker (LHW) intervention with patient navigation (PN), to increase breast and cervical cancer screening among Muslim women in New York City. Muslim women were eligible if they were overdue for a mammogram and/or a Pap test. All participants attended a 1-h educational seminar with distribution of small media health education materials, after which randomization occurred.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is a significant gap in understanding the sexual health of Arab Americans. The purpose of this study is to explore family sex communication among Arab American young adults and its association with gender and sexual attitudes. We used a parallel mixed methods design and administered an electronic survey ( = 100); a subsample of 24 participants participated in five focus groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmigration has been historically and contemporarily racialized in the United States. Although each immigrant group has unique histories, current patterns, and specific experiences, racialized immigrant groups such as Latino, Asian, and Arab immigrants all experience health inequities that are not solely due to nativity or years of residence but also influenced by conditional citizenship and subjective sense of belonging or othering. Critical race theory and intersectionality provide a critical lens to consider how structural racism might uniquely impact the health of racialized immigrants, and to understand and intervene on the interlocking systems that shape these shared experiences and health consequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Multilevel barriers can arise after a cancer diagnosis, especially in underserved racial/ethnic minority patient populations, raising the need for diverse and contextually adapted interventions. However, limited data exists on Arab American (ArA) cancer patients' needs, partly due to their racial/ethnic misclassification as Whites. This study leveraged the perspectives of cancer survivors and community stakeholders (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity in children is a serious public health concern. Technology-based games that incorporate physical activity and nutrition education create an opportunity to engage youth to promote healthy behavior change to help address the obesity problem. "MyPlate Picks" (MPP) is a new digital educational exergame designed to facilitate movement, provide knowledge, enhance motivation, and encourage behavior change related to healthy eating and physical activity in youth.
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