Achieving Equity in the Reach of Smoking Cessation Services Within the NCI Cancer Moonshot-Funded Ca
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
D'Angelo
H, Webb Hooper M, Burris JL, Rolland B, Adsit R, Pauk D, Rosenblum M, Fiore MC,
Baker TB.
Achieving Equity in the
Reach of Smoking Cessation Services Within the NCI Cancer Moonshot-Funded
Cancer Center Cessation Initiative.
Health Equity. 2021 Jun 16;5(1):424-430. doi: 10.1089/heq.2020.0157. PMID:
34235367; PMCID: PMC8237098.
Background.
Ensuring equitable access to smoking cessation services for cancer patients is
necessary to avoid increasing disparities in tobacco use and cancer outcomes.
In 2017, the Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I) funded National Cancer
Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Centers to integrate evidence-based smoking cessation
programs into cancer care. We describe the progress of C3I Cancer Centers in
expanding the reach of cessation services across cancer populations.
Methods.
Cancer centers (n=17) reported on program characteristics and reach (the
proportion of smokers receiving evidence-based cessation treatment) for two
6-month periods. Reach was calculated overall and by patient gender, race,
ethnicity, and age.
Results.
Average reach increased from 18.5% to 25.6% over 1 year. Reach increased for
all racial/ethnic groups, and in particular for American Indian/Alaska Native
(6.6-24.7%), Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (7.3-19.4%), and black
(18.8-25.9%) smokers. Smaller gains in reach were observed among Hispanic
smokers (19.0-22.8%), but these were similar to gains among non-Hispanic
smokers (18.9-23.9%). By age group, smokers aged 18-24 years (6.6-14.5%) and
>65 years (16.1-24.5%) saw the greatest increases in reach.
Conclusion.
C3I Cancer Centers achieved gains in providing smoking cessation services to cancer
patients who smoke, thereby reducing disparities that had existed across
important subgroups. Taking a population-based approach to integrating tobacco
treatment into cancer care has potential to increase reach equity.
Implementation strategies including targeted and proactive outreach to patients
and interventions to increase providers' adoption of evidence-based smoking
cessation treatment may advance reach even further.
|
|
Email to a Friend