Community Outreach and Engagement

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) defines the state of Maryland as its catchment area. Marylanders accounted for 4,625 out of 6,722 (69%) of the SKCCC's newly diagnosed cancer cases in 2020. Maryland is quite diverse with substantial urban, rural and suburban communities. Of the 50 states, Maryland has the highest median family income and has among the highest proportion of college graduates. The state also has substantial poverty that fosters cancer disparities. The Maryland Department of Health divides the state into five regions. Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) staff maintain a database of cancer demographics, health behaviors and availability of care by region. Certain areas of the state have cancer death rates that are lower than the national average. Certain areas have death rates far higher than the national average. Epidemiologists in the SKCCC Office of COE work to define the areas of need and apply the interventions that can reduce disparities. The SKCCC recruited Otis Brawley, M.D., as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and Associate Director for COE. He worked with community and staff to author a COE strategic plan, to build the Office of COE, restructured to increase community input and direction, and launched high-impact signature initiatives in outreach and cancer control. Infrastructure was built to facilitate communication within the Cancer Center and communication to and involvement of the community the SKCCC serves. The infrastructure is designed to encourage bidirectional communication with the community. The SKCCC COE's philosophy is to serve the community, be good listeners and understand the community. There are three Community Advisory Groups (CAGs) in specific regions of the state that provide input and help implement cancer control activities (two are more than ten years old). COE has convened a 17-member Community Advisory Board (CAB) representing the state. Each CAG has representation in the CAB. The CAB confirmed SKCCC priorities and provides strategic direction to SKCCC leadership. Each Research Program also appoints a member as COE Liaison, funded at 5%-time commitment. These Liaisons meet with the CAGs and CAB regularly to discuss SKCCC research and learn of community needs and concerns. This process catalyzes research pertinent to the community. COE staff, the Community Liaisons and SKCCC leadership work with SKCCC researchers to assure community need is kept in mind. COE staff consult one on one with SKCCC investigators on a regular basis and routinely participate in leadership meetings held in the Center. Currently, 62% of the SKCCC's extramurally funded research portfolio is catchment area relevant, addressing a locally prevalent cancer and/or a disparate population. COE also administers approximately $2 million per year as seed funding to stimulate research pertinent to the catchment area. This is done with CAB oversight. Discussion with CAGs/CAB Members and SKCCC Members has led to several high-impact interventions to foster health education, HPV vaccination and colon cancer screening.