Abstract C12: Cancer navigation programs: Identifying barriers and addressing health disparities in Appalachia

The Appalachian region includes 13 states comprising 420 counties, beginning in the north in southern New York and following the Appalachian Mountains to Mississippi. The region has unique natural beauty and a heterogeneous population that shares distinct cultural characteristics but with high rates of unemployment, low income, and high rates of chronic disease, including cancer. Patient Navigation (PN) can address barriers and enhance access to cancer screening and care through the use of individual navigators who are sensitive to the needs, interests, and values of the community. Although there are numerous PN training programs available, there are no known programs specific to the Appalachian population. An electronic survey was distributed in 2011 and again in 2015/16 to better understand the cancer navigation programs in all 13 states of the Appalachian states and how they serve the regional population. In both waves of the survey over 150 responses were received from navigators, program directors, and supervisors. Survey results identify where cancer navigation programs take place (hospitals, health centers, and cancer centers), which health professionals fill the role of navigators (social workers, nurses, health educators), where navigation programs reside in health organizations (breast care centers, infusion centers, social services, and cancer centers), what aspects of the cancer continuum are addressed (prevention, screening, treatment to survivorship), and what range of services are provided by navigation programs (from education, referrals, to financial and spiritual support). A summary and comparison of quantitative data will be reported supplemented with qualitative findings and open-ended responses. Citation Format: Sharon Dwyer, Elizabeth Rohan, Dana White, Eric Stockton, Georgina Castro, Reda Wilson, Carol White, Mark Dignan. Cancer navigation programs: Identifying barriers and addressing health disparities in Appalachia [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr C12.