Community Outreach & Health Literacy

Michelle Tropper, MPHNYU Cancer Institute

Tisch Hospital• 24.2% of population served is foreign-

born

Bellevue Hospital• Nation’s oldest and NYC largest public

hospital • Over 70% of patients are foreign-born• Majority of patients uninsured and publicly

insured

Woodhull Hospital• Primary safety net provider for North

Brooklyn• 49% of the population is uninsured

•Numerous Community Health Centers

•Languages spoken: Spanish, Mandarin Cantonese, Bengali, Polish, Japanese, French, Italian, Russian, Haitian Creole, and Urdu

NYU CANCER INSTITUTE POPULATION

NYC Community Health Profiles, 2006

NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER HEALTH LITERACY COUNCIL

• Coordinates health literacy & plain language initiatives throughout the medical center

• Collaborative council that helps coordinate the creation, revision and translation of

documents, instructions and literature for patients, families, visitors & employees

including:

• Patient education

•Consent forms

•Wayfinding

•Notices

• Signage

•Multi-disciplinary membership

COMMUNITY OUTREACH & EDUCATION PROGRAMMISSION & GOALS

• The mission of the Community Outreach and Education program is to connect the local, national and international communities to NYU Cancer Institute by raising awareness, educating and improving access to evidence-based patient care and research.

•We fulfill our mission and the mission of the Cancer Institute by continually striving to reach the following goals:

• increase the presence of the Cancer Institute

• enhance oncology services for all communities

• promote prevention and early detection of cancer

• develop and promote education and support programs

• promote the findings of translational research

PLAIN LANGUAGE CONSULTATION

RECURRING COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENTS

January/FebruaryUpdates From San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

JuneFaces of Cancer (survivorship event)

MarchColorectal Cancer Awareness Lunchtime SeminarHead and Neck Cancer Screening

SeptemberProstate Cancer Awareness ProgramWomen of Color Conference (began in 2010)

AprilSkin Cancer Awareness Lunchtime Seminar

OctoberBreast Cancer Awareness Program

MaySkin Cancer ScreeningPancreatic Cancer Awareness Lunchtime Seminar

NovemberLung Cancer AwarenessLunchtime Seminar

Monthly:Spanish, English, Chinese Support Groups @ BellevueProstate Cancer Education Series (Man to Man ACS)

Unique Programs to Address Disparities & Barriers

Overarching Strategies Cancer Prevention & Early Detection

Cancer Care & Clinical Trials

Improving Cancer Survivorship

• Bilingual staff & navigators• Interpreting systems• Language-specific

educational programs & materials

• AMBER- Arab American Breast Cancer Education and Referral program • Health Literacy Prevalence Assessment

• Enable access to free community screenings & care

• Build community relationships

• Patient navigation to services & clinical trials

• Lifestyle Counseling and Patient Navigation on Blood Pressure Control and Colorectal Cancer Screening in Black Men

• Community-based Approaches to Colorectal Cancer Prevention in Black Men

• Integrated Breast Cancer Care for Medically Underserved Multi-Ethnic Women

• Family Caregivers Strengths and Skills in Managing Older Cancer Patients Symptoms

• Enable access to treatment and participation in studies tailored to needs of patients

• Patient navigation to services & clinical trials

• A faculty which closely matches the populations served

• Optimally Informed Consent to Therapy and/or Participation in Clinical Research at Bellevue Hospital Center

• Multi-Center Study of Concurrent Paclitaxel & Radiation: Correlation of Tumor Profiles with Pathological Response

• Problem-solving training for Family Caregivers to Korean American Older Cancer Survivors

• Lymphedema Assistance Program at NYU

OVERCOMING DISPARITIES & BARRIERS

HEALTH LITERACY PREVALENCE ASSESSMENT

• Assess prevalence of low health literacy amongst cancer patients and caregivers at NYU

Cancer Institute locations.

• Inform further assessment of the current standard for patient education materials.

• Assess the need for patient navigators to help communicate the importance of follow-up

and to reinforce messages about healthy behaviors.

• Potential to seek funding as a collaborative learning project for implementing systems

change that addresses patient education.

•Conduct assessment as pilot project at NYU Cancer Institute.

• Share findings with Collaborative and explore opportunities for implementation of

systems changes in member organizations.