Prostate Cancer Patient, Healthcare Provider, and Healthcare System Perspectives on Equity in the Cancer Care Delivery System in St. Louis

Research Project Description

Across the prostate cancer continuum from prevention to end-of-life care, Black men have worse outcomes compared to White men. Specifically, Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, present at an earlier age, are likely to have more advanced disease at diagnosis, and have suboptimal outcomes to standard treatments. Therefore, ensuring timely diagnosis for this population and equitable treatment following diagnosis is critical to reducing the disparities experienced by Black men at risk for prostate cancer. Yet, there are many barriers to engagement with the healthcare delivery system for Black men; for example, historical and current experiences of multiple levels of racism have eroded the trust and the perceived trustworthiness of the healthcare delivery system for Black men. In addition, factors such as lower levels of health literacy and masculinity-related issues also contribute to lower levels of health care delivery system engagement.

The team members will use a community-participatory research approach to create a Learning Community (LC) of Black male prostate cancer (PCa) patients, PCa care providers (primary and specialty), and healthcare system administrators with a common goal of articulating the characteristics of an equitable cancer care delivery system; and for the identification of tools that eliminate barriers/facilitate to PCa care equity for Black men as they navigate the healthcare/cancer care delivery system. The Learning Community (LC) will identify pathways for dissemination of best practices to facilitate healthcare delivery system change to address structural racism and create equity in prostate cancer (PCa) care in St. Louis and nationally. The ongoing relationship amongst the LC members will strengthen our ability to integrate multiple stakeholder perspectives into current and future initiatives where the needs and voice of Black men can be centered.