Disparities Committee

Why? Nobody in Delaware should have a higher risk of getting cancer and dying from it due to his or her racial or ethnic backgorund.

Particularly at risk are American American men for prostate cancer and African American women for colon and breast cancer. Our goal is to treat every Delawarean equally. Although cancer screening rates are equal between Caucasians and African Americans, African Americans are more likely to die from prostate and colon cancer. We must reach out farther and with greater accuracy to understand the source of the disparity—examining access to care, timeliness of care or quality of care, for example—and put services in place to eliminate it.

ARE SOME OF US MORE LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED BY THIS THAN OTHERS?

The mortality rate for prostate cancer for African American men is twice that of Caucasian males.
Although the incidence rate for breast cancer for African American women is lower, the mortality rate is more than 30% higher.
The mortality rate for colon cancer is still higher for African Americans than
for Caucasians.

WHAT CAN BE DONE

Engage at-risk populations in health screenings where they live.
Improve data collection regarding disparities.
Improve prostate cancer screenings among African American men.
Improve colon and breast cancer screenings among African American women.
Study how we’re treating colon cancer to determine if there are better interventions.
Find out how our programs are being received in at-risk communities.
Get more at-risk individuals to learn about and enroll in clinical trials.

Click each goal to read about the objectives, tasks and timeframes.

Goal 1:

Increase the data available on Hispanic residents.

Year 1

$75,000

Year 2

$80,000

Year 3

$80,000

Year 4

$80,000

Objective 1A: Conduct community-level health surveys targeting communities with high percentage of minority populations (including Hispanics).

Task/Action	Responsible Party	Timeframe
Research existing surveys and adopt/adapt as appropriate.	DPH	Year 1
Develop criteria for selection of communities to be surveyed.	DPH	Year 1
Approve criteria for selection of communities to be surveyed.	Disparities Committee	Year
Select communities to be surveyed based on approved criteria.	DPH, Disparities Committee	Year 1
Meet with key leaders in selected communities to gain support and answer questions.	DPH, Disparities Committee	Year 1
Conduct surveys, analyze results and develop interventions based on results.	DPH	Year 2 & ongoing

Objective 1B: Endorse and actively promote the recommendations of the Disparities Task Force—specifically those related to improving consistency and accuracy of race/ethnicity data.

Task/Action	Responsible Party	Timeframe
Participate in joint meetings and events to encourage health care providers and health systems to adopt uniform reporting of race and ethnicity data (including but not limited to support for legislation, regulations and funding to implement uniform reporting).	Disparities Committee, DCC	Year 1 & ongoing

Goal 2:

Improve prostate cancer screening and mortality rates among Delaware’s African American men.

Goal 3:

Reduce colorectal and breast cancer mortality among African American women in Delaware.

Year 1

Year 2

$50,000

Year 3

$50,000

Year 4

$50,000

Objective 3A: Conduct a descriptive study using information from the State and hospital cancer registries focusing specifically on African American women diagnosed with colorectal and breast cancer and develop interventions based on analysis of the data collected.

Task/Action	Responsible Party	Timeframe
Develop study protocol.	DPH staff	Year 1
Review and approve protocol.	Disparities Committee	Year 1
Conduct study, analyze results and develop potential interventions.	DPH	Year 2 & ongoing
Review results and potential interventions and make recommendations to DPH staff.	Disparities Committee	Year 2 & annually thereafter
Conduct and evaluate interventions.	DPH	Year 2 & ongoing
Review evaluation data and make recommendations for modifications to interventions.	Disparities Committee	Year 2 & annually thereafter

Objective 3B: Using results of stage three colon cancer treatment study (to be completed Winter 2007), develop interventions to improve receipt of state-of-the-art treatment (including but not limited to interventions targeting patients, providers, health care systems and the general public).

Task/Action	Responsible Party	Timeframe
Develop, conduct and evaluate interventions.	DPH	Year 2 & ongoing
Review data and make recommendations for modifications to interventions.	Disparities Committee	Year 2 & ongoing

Goal 4:

Improve data related to impact and effectiveness of DCC-recommended programs with emphasis on reduction of racial and ethnic disparities.

Goal 5:

Achieve equal rates of clinical trial participation among minorities and Caucasians.