May 30, 2003
Redes En Acción and the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS) have teamed up on a new community education project aimed at promoting cancer clinical trial awareness among the Hispanic/Latino population.
The six-month pilot project, Clinical Trials Outreach for Hispanics, is being implemented in four Redes En Acción regions that have existing CIS partnerships: New York, Florida, California and Texas. In those regional sites, Redes En Acción and CIS staff are delivering presentations during regularly scheduled professional, community and special-interest group meetings.
Based on the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Trials Education Series (CTES), a 30-minute slide presentation included in the program's outreach module reflects specific needs and barriers confronted by Latinos. In addition to the slide presentation, in English and Spanish, the module includes talking points, a video, educational print materials for distribution and evaluation forms.
"We're looking closely at our methods and outcomes during this six-month pilot project to determine the most effective and efficient strategies for conducting clinical trials outreach," said Linda Civalleros, CIS Partnership Program Manager. "After the pilot phase, we will revise the components and package them for easy use and wider dissemination."
In addition to promoting clinical trial interest in general, the project in Houston is testing actual recruitment to the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Genetics Network Registry.
The outreach program is significant for the Hispanic/Latino population because about 21,000 Latinos in the United States are expected to die of cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. And more than 54,000 are expected to receive a first-time cancer diagnosis. Clinical research in Latinos is vital to better understand cancer in this population and find effective means of prevention and control.
What Is Redes En Acción? Redes En Acción is a major NCI-supported initiative to combat cancer among Latinos through a nationwide network of community-based organizations, research institutions, government health agencies and the public. Core activities include promoting cancer training and research opportunities for Latino students and researchers, generating research projects on key Latino cancer issues, and supporting cancer awareness activities within the Latino community.
The initiative is coordinated by the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and San Antonio, with regional network centers in San Antonio, New York, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and San Diego.
