Community Grants to Address Cancer Health Disparities: A Participatory Approach to Implementing and Evaluating Evidence-Based Interventions for Health Equity

Abstract Information: While Michigan has seen a steady decline in cancer incidence and mortality, the burden of cancer is not equally shared across the state. There are significant racial and socioeconomic disparities across incidence, mortality, screening & early detection. In its mission to reduce cancer health disparities and build capacity to address local cancer burden, the Rogel Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) funded four community organizations across the state of Michigan to implement evidence-based interventions. This presentation will explore the process and impact of the community grants initiative in building organizational capacity to capture transformational changes from sustainable, culturally effective health equity interventions. Discussing the grants as vehicles for empowerment, we will demonstrate how centering community-owned needs assessments, interventions, and evaluation plans results in more effective and sustainable cancer equity work. We will also share lessons learned about the importance of leveraging institutional access and resources to support non-profit organizations and people working within their communities to ameliorate health disparities.