Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University
The Georgia Cancer Center’s Cancer Community Awareness Access Research & Education (c‐CARE) initiative was developed to reduce the burden of lung and other preventable cancers among minorities and medically-underserved populations in the central Savannah River Area of Georgia.
Need
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Georgia, which has some of the nation’s worst health outcomes and cancer disparities - especially among African Americans - compared to the rest of the nation. An estimated 6,540 new cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in 2014 and almost 4,690 Georgians died due to the disease. The state’s higher rates of lung cancer are attributed to smoking and other tobacco use combined with secondhand smoke and industrial exposure.
Project
The c-CARE for lung cancer module seeks to broadly address all cancers that are preventable or may be detected early enough to improve outcomes. The program will work with the General Missionary Baptist Convention, the largest statewide organization of African Americans in Georgia with over 800 churches representing 550,000 African American Baptists. The goal of this partnership is to reach adult African American smokers and former smokers whose prior history of smoking combined with other risk factors makes them eligible for low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for the disease.
The project will aim to enroll 500 participants from 12 sites including African American churches and community health clinics. Initial and follow-up surveys will help determine whether participants are candidates for lung cancer screening and if they have been appropriately directed to get the needed care.
Project Leader
Lovoria Williams, Lwilliams@gru.edu
Partners
- Georgia Cancer Center
- Augusta University
- General Missionary Baptist Convention