Cancer Clinical Trials:

A Curriculum for Community Health Workers

A new tool for community health workers who seek to educate people in underserved communities about cancer clinical trials

What We Know:

·        Disparities in cancer outcomes have been documented across the cancer continuum. 

·        Participation of underserved populations in cancer clinical trials is very low.

·        Many patients do not have access to the most up-to-date clinical care. 

·        Community health workers say they need to know more about cancer clinical trials.

·        Community health workers are key in raising community awareness of clinical trials. 

WHAT OUR TRAINING CURRICULUM IS:

·        Designed especially for community health workers.

·        Focuses on the background, process, language and safeguards of clinical trials. 

·        Can be delivered at no cost to health workers or agencies.

·        Consists of two two-hour training modules.

·        Provides a “toolkit” with helpful printed and digitized materials. 

WHO WE ARE:

·        Funding was provided by the National Cancer Institute through a grant to the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the University of Massachusetts Boston.

·        Lidia Schapira, MD, oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Russell Schutt, PhD, sociologist at University of Massachusetts Boston and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.  JudyAnn Bigby, MD, formerly of Brigham & Women’s Hospital, helped to design the program. 

·        Research assistants from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

·        A team of community health workers and other community health leaders.