Research Project
10407827
Project Summary/Abstract: There is a critical need to assist Marylanders navigate through treatment options related to tobacco cessation and lung cancer screening. The University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) senior leadership, including its director, Dr. Kevin Cullen, strongly support the idea of establishing an organized approach to tobacco cessation and lung cancer screening in Maryland. This project works to increase lung cancer screening using low-dose CT scan to eligible adults from UMGCCC?s catchment area. UMGCCC?s catchment area serves 5.4 million Marylanders living in a 10-county region of central Maryland. The area surrounds UMGCCC in Baltimore City, includes the Baltimore-DC corridor, and the Maryland State capital of Annapolis The proposed work will form a partnership between the UMGCCC?s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, the Maryland Cancer Collaborative, and the Maryland Patient Navigator Network (PNN). The project will provide training to the PNN of 282 patient navigators to utilize communication, tobacco cessation, and LDCT screening strategies. This will increase referrals to the Maryland Quitline and refer eligible individuals to lung cancer screening services. This work aims to increase the proportion of high-risk adults (50-80 years old with a 20-pack-year history of smoking or those who quit within the last 15 years) screened for lung cancer and support and to implement CDC- recommended evidence-based interventions that reduce tobacco use and increase the demand for cessation. The lung cancer screening rate currently site at 8.3% in Maryland. Our goal is to utilize the trained patient navigators to help refer eligible Marylanders to get screened and increase this percentage to 16.8% This can happen if the 282 Patient Navigators refer and average of 10 eligible Marylanders. Patient Navigators can also amplify the tobacco cessation messaging utilizing CDC recommended evidence-based interventions. Evaluation will be guided by the RE-AIM Framework, with a focus on adoption, reach, and implementation. The Quitline and LDCT interventions are evidence-based with the emphasis falling on implementation outcomes. The project will be sustained after the grant period ends through Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition patient navigator structures and evaluation activities, as well as through UMGCCC Community Outreach and Engagement data collection activities.
