Post by Okwes on Apr 30, 2006 19:02:12 GMT -5
Cancer Rates (health)
Study targets better screenings for rural tribes
Institute's four-year effort aims to lift barriers
By Carey Hamilton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Aiming to improve cancer screening and treatment for Utah's rural
American Indians, researchers at the Huntsman Cancer Institute will
spend four years studying how to help them overcome barriers to care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services selected the Salt Lake
City center as one of six sites for projects on early detection and
treatment of cancer for minority Medicare beneficiaries. The institute
will focus on American Indians living in eleven tribal locations
throughout Utah, and three tribal locations in north-central Montana.
Randall Burt, interim executive director and principal investigator
on the $3.9 million project, said the center's geographic location was a
persuasive factor in getting the grant.
"Not only do we have several Native American populations within the
Intermountain West that we can enroll, but many of them live in what is
termed a 'frontier' area, where there may be six or fewer people per
square mile," he said. "This geographical remoteness adds an additional
layer of difficulty to people already having problems accessing health
care."
Researchers will examine how to best ensure American Indians on
Medicare living in rural and frontier areas get the appropriate
screenings for breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancer.
A total of 13,000 members of minority populations now on Medicare
will be enrolled from all six sites. The Huntsman institute's goal is to
enroll 1,800 American Indians from the Utah and Montana locations, with
the Sletton Cancer Institute at Benefits Healthcare in Great Falls,
Mont., assisting with recruitment.
Dena Ned, executive director of the Indian Walk-In Center in Salt
Lake City, said the rural population is severely underserved.
"They have limited health care," she said. "Most of the clinics are
underfunded and hard to get in. I think there's a need in all aspects to
address the disparities in Indian country. We don't know what the
prevalence of cancer is because we're either misidentified as nonnatives
or we're overlooked."
The study will hire about 40 "navigators," people who will reach out
to various tribal areas to enroll participants. Most likely, the
navigators will be from those communities and have some background in
health care, said Randall Rupper, an investigator for the institute and
the VA Salt Lake Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center.
Ned said using local residents or others known on reservations would
be advantageous.
"It would take a while for people to open up if it's a stranger," she
said. "It helps if they know somebody or they've worked with Indians
before so there's trust."
Rupper said investigators will contact tribal councils to obtain
navigators, whom he expects will be trained and ready to enroll people
by the end of summer.
"Our focus is to get out into the communities," Rupper said. "The
navigators will be in people's homes and in clinics."
He believes lung cancer, related to smoking, is the most prevalent
cancer for American Indians, followed by higher-than-average rates of
prostate and breast cancers.
"The American Indian populations have faced a lot of challenges in
getting care for cancer," Rupper said. "If they have cancer, we'll
navigate them through any barriers to treatment, whether it's help with
transportation, translation and interpretation services, or care
coordination, so they can receive the most beneficial therapies."
---
Contact Carey Hamilton at chamilton@sltrib.com or 257-8605. Send
comments to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Improving minority cancer care
The Huntsman Cancer Institute will study how to improve cancer
screenings and care for rural American Indians. Other sites and minority
groups to be enrolled in the national study:
* Molokai General Hospital in Hawaii, studying Asian-American and
Pacific Islander care;
* University of Texas, studying Hispanic-Mexican American care;
* New Jersey Medical School, studying Hispanic-Puerto Rican care;
* Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, studying care for blacks;
* Josephine Ford Cancer Center in Michigan, studying care for blacks.
Study targets better screenings for rural tribes
Institute's four-year effort aims to lift barriers
By Carey Hamilton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Aiming to improve cancer screening and treatment for Utah's rural
American Indians, researchers at the Huntsman Cancer Institute will
spend four years studying how to help them overcome barriers to care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services selected the Salt Lake
City center as one of six sites for projects on early detection and
treatment of cancer for minority Medicare beneficiaries. The institute
will focus on American Indians living in eleven tribal locations
throughout Utah, and three tribal locations in north-central Montana.
Randall Burt, interim executive director and principal investigator
on the $3.9 million project, said the center's geographic location was a
persuasive factor in getting the grant.
"Not only do we have several Native American populations within the
Intermountain West that we can enroll, but many of them live in what is
termed a 'frontier' area, where there may be six or fewer people per
square mile," he said. "This geographical remoteness adds an additional
layer of difficulty to people already having problems accessing health
care."
Researchers will examine how to best ensure American Indians on
Medicare living in rural and frontier areas get the appropriate
screenings for breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancer.
A total of 13,000 members of minority populations now on Medicare
will be enrolled from all six sites. The Huntsman institute's goal is to
enroll 1,800 American Indians from the Utah and Montana locations, with
the Sletton Cancer Institute at Benefits Healthcare in Great Falls,
Mont., assisting with recruitment.
Dena Ned, executive director of the Indian Walk-In Center in Salt
Lake City, said the rural population is severely underserved.
"They have limited health care," she said. "Most of the clinics are
underfunded and hard to get in. I think there's a need in all aspects to
address the disparities in Indian country. We don't know what the
prevalence of cancer is because we're either misidentified as nonnatives
or we're overlooked."
The study will hire about 40 "navigators," people who will reach out
to various tribal areas to enroll participants. Most likely, the
navigators will be from those communities and have some background in
health care, said Randall Rupper, an investigator for the institute and
the VA Salt Lake Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center.
Ned said using local residents or others known on reservations would
be advantageous.
"It would take a while for people to open up if it's a stranger," she
said. "It helps if they know somebody or they've worked with Indians
before so there's trust."
Rupper said investigators will contact tribal councils to obtain
navigators, whom he expects will be trained and ready to enroll people
by the end of summer.
"Our focus is to get out into the communities," Rupper said. "The
navigators will be in people's homes and in clinics."
He believes lung cancer, related to smoking, is the most prevalent
cancer for American Indians, followed by higher-than-average rates of
prostate and breast cancers.
"The American Indian populations have faced a lot of challenges in
getting care for cancer," Rupper said. "If they have cancer, we'll
navigate them through any barriers to treatment, whether it's help with
transportation, translation and interpretation services, or care
coordination, so they can receive the most beneficial therapies."
---
Contact Carey Hamilton at chamilton@sltrib.com or 257-8605. Send
comments to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Improving minority cancer care
The Huntsman Cancer Institute will study how to improve cancer
screenings and care for rural American Indians. Other sites and minority
groups to be enrolled in the national study:
* Molokai General Hospital in Hawaii, studying Asian-American and
Pacific Islander care;
* University of Texas, studying Hispanic-Mexican American care;
* New Jersey Medical School, studying Hispanic-Puerto Rican care;
* Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, studying care for blacks;
* Josephine Ford Cancer Center in Michigan, studying care for blacks.