Introduction

Nearly nine million Americans pass through the criminal justice system (i.e., prison, jail, parole, and probation). Several reports have indicated that approximately 60-80% of inmates in the U.S. have histories of tobacco use, compared to 30% of the general population. This is significant, because, despite declining smoking rates in the general population, tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity in the nation. Moreover, tobacco use by inmates has not been the focus of cancer health studies. That being said, this study describes the implementation strategy to support the adoption of a cancer health disparities education program, called Cancer 101 aimed at improving cancer health among underserved populations.

Methods/Design

Cancer 101 will be offered to three male correctional facilities in New York and Pennsylvania using a stepped wedge design. Due to adopting Cancer 101 in a real-world environment with plenty of logistical and structural constraints, the order in which different cohorts receive the intervention will be determined at random; however, all groups will receive the intervention. Data analysis will include the following descriptive statistics: correlations, ANOVA, and chi-square tests.

Discussion

The stepped wedge design may be appropriate for evaluating the effectiveness of a cancer health disparities program in a controlled setting. The stepped wedge design enables all designated correctional sites to eventually receive Cancer 101 during the study. We expect that Cancer 101 will prove to be a feasible program for reducing cancer health disparities in underserved men in correctional settings.

Citation Format: Pamela Valera, Daniel Mackey, William McLaughlin, Laura Brotzman. Using a stepped wedge design to describe the adoption of a cancer education program in male correctional facilities. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A39.