Healthy Cervix: A Clinic Community Health Educator-Based Cervical Cancer Education, Prevention and Screening Program (HEALIX)

University Of California At Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY Widespread use of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine coupled with early detection is expected to reduce the cervical cancer burden across all racial/ethnic groups and mitigate disparities as women of color are disproportionately affected by cervical cancer. To address the current dearth of effective preventative programs embedded within the community health clinic system, where most of the underserved populations receive care, we developed the Healthy Cervix program, a community clinic health educator-based cervical cancer education, prevention and screening effort, (“HEALIX”) built as a community engaged research collaboration between the University of California, Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and Peach Tree Health (Peach Tree), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). HEALIX is grounded in a multilevel health equity framework merging a community health worker-led outreach and education model approach with cervical cancer training for primary care teams, and the option of both HPVself-collectionand clinical Papanicolaou (Pap) testing for clients/patients. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of implementing this multilevel intervention, which addresses individual, community, and systems level barriers, on increasing HPV completion rates among patients ages 9-17 and Pap testing among women ages 21-65 in three of Peach Tree’s clinics compared to usual care. This will be accomplished through the following aims: Aim 1) Customize and contextualize cervical cancer prevention communications, education strategies and multi-media delivery modes that will inform necessary adaptations to the proposed multilevel intervention; and Aim 2) Pilot the HEALIX multilevel intervention in three Peach Tree clinics, evaluating selected implementation outcomes and exploring service (screening/vaccination rates) and client/patient (satisfaction) outcomes. The proposed research is significant because it will contribute to the field of multilevel intervention research to mitigate cervical cancer disparities and addresses the need for more scientifically rigorous, evidence-based interventions that can be disseminated and implemented in diverse communities. Successful achievement of our Aims will significantly increase HPV vaccination and Pap testing rates over baseline, advance our understanding of the utility of HPV self-collection kits in community settings; and will provide insights on strategies that can be utilized to address other cancer health disparities impacting women. Furthermore, given the paucity of effective multilevel interventions to increase HPV vaccine uptake and Pap testing in understudied, underrepresented, and underreported communities, this study can guide effective dissemination and implementation of empirically derived evidence-based interventions for health care delivery systems serving rural, racially/ethnically diverse, and socially disadvantaged communities.