3, 2, 1, Go! Practical Solutions for Addressing Cancer Care Disparities

Although there have been significant advances during the past several decades in cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment, not all Americans have benefited equally from them. Racial and ethnic minorities with cancer continue to experience higher morbidity and mortality rates compared to White populations. Multiple social determinants of health contribute to disparities in care and outcomes among different groups. These can include distrust in the healthcare system, insufficient or lack of health insurance, economic and systemic obstacles to care access, cultural barriers, implicit and explicit bias, and low health literacy.

To help address identified gaps in care, the Hawaii Society of Clinical Oncology (HSCO), The Arizona Clinical Oncology Society (TACOS), and the Texas Society of Clinical Oncology (TxSCO)—all Chapter Members of the Association of Cancer Care Centers  (ACCC)—will each develop and implement a community-based educational initiative that will identify and address disparities among groups specific to each state’s population:

• HSCO will focus on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
• TACOS will focus on the American Indian population living off reservations and outside of the Indian Health Service.
• TxSCO will focus on the Latinx/Hispanic American population.

This program, called 3, 2, 1, Go! will task each state society with aggregating 3 “go-to” resources to advance equity in cancer care, make 2 recommendations to eliminate disparities in care, and identify 1 major gap in care that the organization wants to address. To gather this information, each state society will establish an equity and access committee, conduct surveys and focus groups of patients and providers, aggregate and publish resources at the state and local levels, and come together to host a health equity summit with key stakeholders.

For more information on this project, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.

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  Findings from HSCO: Health Inequities in Cancer Among the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Communities Across Hawaii

  According to data from National Cancer Institute SEER-funded Hawaii Tumor Registry, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women have a cancer rate of 482 per 100,000, the highest of all ethnicities, while men in this population group have the second highest incidence compared with all ethnicities at 431 per 100,000. In 2022, ACCC contracted The Community Solutions (CCS) to conduct two focus groups with patient advocacy organizations and providers. These focus groups provided a wealth of information about the problems and solutions to achieving health equity in cancer care for these populations in Hawaii.

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  OSS_HSCO_321_Go_Infographic-1A Look At Hawaii - A Visual Summary

  ACCC collaborated with the Hawaii Society of Clinical Oncology (HSCO) and The Center for Community Solutions to address disparities and identify gaps in care for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people of Hawaii. The infographic highlights gaps in care identified in focus groups and provides suggested recommendations to address these barriers to quality care.

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