Abstract
Background: Cancer information is greatly needed for patients to make accurate and timely decisions about their care. However, this is often not available in culturally and language specific ways, and not easily accessible to minority populations. The Lazarex Cancer Foundation has teamed up with the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer center to establish Cancer Wellness Pop up hubs in the Southern California diverse community to bring cancer information directly into people’s neighborhoods. Methods: During the period of October 2021 through May 2022 we teamed up with local community-based organizations, including the Los Angeles Weingart YMCA in Boyle Heights and other YMCA’s in Koreatown and South Central Los Angeles, the KJLH radio station (102.3 FM, 1050 AMM, 106.5 FM), at a women’s conference in Long Beach, as well as with other community based organizations and venues to bring cancer information to the community in language and culturally appropriate ways. Further we developed a speakers’ series on line which has brought together cancer experts responding to most frequently asked questions on cancer to manage a variety of topics, and to speak about clinical trials participation. We also established a Cafecito (coffee) with the experts, a weekly series where cancer patients and family members with questions in the community could join to have cancer related questions answered, and established a series of wellness workshops. Results: We provided cancer information to 1359 individuals between October 2021-May 2022. Of these, the majority were females, including family members of cancer survivors or the worried well, who are concerned about cancer in their families, patients, and the community at large. Almost 500 have attended our speakers’ series, and 471 have received information via our Pop-up hubs. We have supported over 100 individuals in support groups and supported culturally specific community events such as Celebrate Life Car Parade, and the Men’s Cancer Network support groups and activities reaching 261 individuals. The estimated listenership of KJLH is 275,000 on any given day of the week. Conclusion: The Lazarex Foundation Cancer Wellness Hubs are a proven strategy to reach communities directly in their own neighborhoods. Much information has been provided to plant the seed for individuals to learn about and become informed about cancer in their communities. Prevention information has been critical for keeping populations at risk healthy and improving dialogue about participation in research and clinical trials among diverse vulnerable communities. The Cancer Wellness Hubs are being implemented in other cities around the U.S. and have become a model for the nation to reduce cancer disparities one community at a time.
Citation Format: Lourdes A. Baezcondee-Garbanati, Elena Nieves, Erykah Walton, Rosa Barahona, Marya Shegog. Cancer Wellness Hubs: Bringing cancer information directly to underserved communities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 15th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 Sep 16-19; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B053.
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