Diversity and Inclusion in Research Underpinning Prevention and Therapy Trials

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai585 enrolled

Overview

This proposal brings together multidisciplinary teams from four New York City institutions charged with reducing cancer disparities that affect approximately two million people residing in some of the most diverse and underserved communities in the United States. The intent of this collaborative research is captured by its acronym, DISRUPT: Diversity \& IncluSion in Research Underpinning Prevention \& Therapy Trials. To disrupt the norms that maintain heightened risk and poorer outcomes experienced by BIPOC, the research team propose three integrated and synergistic aims to improve diversity and inclusion in CTs through disruptive approaches at the community (Aim 1), provider, system and patient (Aim 2), and basic and translational scientist levels (Aim 3). All three aims focus on metrics for changing norms reified in institutional policies and established practice that will provide essential evidence to translate and scale these changes to institutions and networks involved in cancer treatment research. In Aim 1, the research team will partner with local organizations to formulate and disseminate new norms regarding cancer care and research and diffuse these new norms throughout the community via community organizations and Health Ambassadors bringing a different vantage point on CTs, raising awareness and increasing demand for access to cancer research. In Aim 2, the research team will create an electronic approach to identify key clinical characteristics of patients and trials and match patients and trials and bring these data to patients and their physicians at the time of key decisions. In Aim 3, the research team will provide and integrate essential experiential training in diversity, social determinants of health and the importance of conducting community-relevant work into basic and translational science training. This DISRUPT proposal provides the foundation to disrupt norms about cancer clinical trials in our communities, delivery systems and scientific research enterprises.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Interventions

Clinical trial match-listBEHAVIORAL

Creation and dissemination educational materials designed to inform and empower patients' participation in their cancer treatment including the consideration of clinical trial participation and provide clinical trials' patient navigators (CTPN) to further aid with education about clinical trials.

Match-list interventionBEHAVIORAL

Providers by intervening at the clinical and systems levels to provide them with tools and processes and informational and practical support to facilitate CT consideration, discussion, and offer to aid with education about clinical trials and facilitate CT consideration at a treatment decision node.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 21 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * All patients \>21 years of age with invasive breast, lung or liver cancer, who face a treatment decision * patients of doctors who have consented to participate * able to give consent and speak either English or Spanish * For provider recruitment, oncologists, and advanced practitioners caring for patients with breast, lung, liver cancer including medical and surgical oncologists, interventional radiologists \& hepatologists will be eligible Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who are unable to give consent * unable to understand English or Spanish * lack of invasive breast/liver cancer * those who do not face an imminent treatment decision

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Clinical Trial Accrual

Change in rates of clinical trial accrual of the total population and BIPOC population.

Time frame: from start to the conclusion of recruitment to the clinical trial, average of 2 months

Secondary Outcomes

Number of physicians agree to usefulness of the match lists

Number of physicians who find the match lists useful to inform decision-making and clinical trial participation.

Time frame: at 6 months post intervention implementation

Patient Post-intervention Survey

Survey is not summed: there is no scoring or a scale for survey. Questions will be looked at individually for statements related to patient level barriers that influenced CT discussions and offers. Some answers are yes/no while others may multiple choices.

Time frame: 2 weeks post intervention implementation

Physician Post -intervention survey

Survey is not summed: there is no scoring or a scale for survey. Questions will be looked at individually for statements related to patient, physician, and system level barriers that influenced CT discussions and offers. Some answers are yes/no while others may multiple choices.