# Community Outreach and Engagement

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2023 · $194,395

## Abstract

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT: ABSTRACT
The goal of the UFHCC of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) is to reduce the cancer burden and
promote health equity in our catchment area (CA) and beyond. The COE office has 16 staff who form
partnerships with the community and scientists, conduct outreach, and facilitate implementation of evidence-
based cancer risk reduction and screening to address CA needs and disparities. The COE aims are to: 1) assess
and monitor CA cancer burden and disparities using linked clinical, social determinants of health, and community
member reported data; 2) engage the community as partners in adopting evidence-based strategies for cancer
prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship through outreach and education; 3) enhance the impact of
UFHCC research on the CA by involving the community in research agenda setting, aligning research with the
CA cancer burden, linking UFHCC scientists to the community, and facilitating access to interventional trials,
particularly for those traditionally underrepresented; and, 4) engage faculty, trainees, and the community in
advocacy and policy development. The CA of 23 counties accounts for 77% of UFHCC cases. Every county is
a medically underserved area and/or population, and roughly half have persistent poverty. Therefore, COE
further characterized the CA by census tract socioeconomic vulnerability (SEV) to inform programmatic
prioritization. The CA has higher cancer overall incidence and mortality rates than the state or the U.S. The
greatest mortality burden is observed for tobacco-related cancers, colorectal, and HPV-related cancers in those
residing in high SEV and persistent poverty census tracts. The CA has high rates of individuals who are
uninsured, current smokers, and adults ≥65 years along with low educational attainment and cancer screening
rates, relative to Florida and the U.S. Using these data and Community Advisory Board recommendations, COE
focused on high priority cancers, (e.g., tobacco-related, HPV-related, colorectal), with an emphasis on increasing
the uptake of cervical and colorectal cancer screening and reducing cancer risks (e.g., tobacco use, sun
exposure, lack of HPV vaccination). Since 2020, >1,000 women received education about cervical and colorectal
cancer screening and 281 were navigated to mobile outreach clinics for Pap and HPV self-tests. Over 350 skin
cancer prevention kits were distributed to Florida farmworkers. After a delay due to COVID-19, COE began
linking cancer patients to the Money Matters Program, which provides financial counseling and linkage to
community resources. COE works with liaisons from each UFHCC program to engage researchers in addressing
the cancer burden of the CA and links members to the community through the 1) UFHCC Citizen Scientists; 2)
OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium; and 3) community groups, such as the Project CONTINUITY Steering
Committee. COE future plans are to: expand Project CONTINUITY to...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10625758
- **Project number:** 1P30CA247796-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth A. Shenkman
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $194,395
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10625758

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10625758, Community Outreach and Engagement (1P30CA247796-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10625758. Licensed CC0.

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