A screening tool to enhance clinical trial participation at a community center involved in a radiation oncology disparities program.

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of a screening tool to enhance clinical trial participation at a community radiation oncology center involved in a National Cancer Institute-funded disparities program but lacking on-site clinical trials personnel.

Patients And Methods: The screening form was pasted to the front of the charts and filled out for all new patients over the 9-month period of the study, during which time five external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) trials and a patient perception study were open for accrual. Patient consent was obtained by assorted personnel at several different sites.

A simple and effective daily pain management method for patients receiving radiation therapy for painful bone metastases.

Purpose: The incidence of painful bone metastases increases with longer survival times. Although external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is an effective palliative treatment, it often requires several days from the start of treatment to produce a measurable reduction in pain scores and a qualitative amelioration of patient pain levels. Meanwhile, the use of analgesics remains the best approach early on in the treatment course.

A multi-institutional mobility model for regional deployment of Telesynergy telemedicine systems.

The Telesynergy workstation is a remote medical consultation system that provides medical staff with the means to collaborate with one another on cancer research and treatment. There are about 25 systems in use around the world. In order to share the equipment with five community hospital partners in Western Pennsylvania, we designed and implemented a transport system for the workstation.

Evaluation of formative development in the neighborhood cancer care cooperative.

The Radiation Oncology Community Outreach Group (ROCOG) and Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative (NCCC) were funded by the National Cancer Institute Radiation Research Program Cancer Disparities Research Partnership program in September 2003. ROCOG/NCCC provides customized, community hospital-based initiatives intended to help close the cancer disparities gap. In our two preceding articles in this issue, we have explored contextual and organizational development, described infrastructure and component programs, and outlined early evaluation strategies.

Creation of community-based research capabilities in the neighborhood cancer care cooperative: administrative infrastructure, program initiatives, and evaluation priorities.

The Radiation Oncology Community Outreach Group (ROCOG) and the Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative (NCCC) were developed to address oncology-related health disparities utilizing a community-based, collaborative organizational design. Funded in 2003 by the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Disparities Research Partnership program, ROCOG/NCCC has focused on reducing barriers to care and enhancing the health care system's responsiveness to minority and indigent populations within Southwestern Pennsylvania. This article will describe the component programs that have been developed under this umbrella, as well as the evolved administrative, governance, and evaluation infrastructure that supports these initiatives.

Use of partnership strategies to build radiation oncology disparities research programs in five Western Pennsylvania communities: an organizational case study.

Many cancer treatment and prevention trials as well as surveillance programs suffer from a disproportionately low rate of accrual and a high rate of noncompliance or dropouts of racial minorities and the poor. One suggested strategy to help remediate this trend is to directly involve those targeted populations within the development, implementation, and evaluation of these services. The Radiation Oncology Community Outreach Group (ROCOG) and Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative (NCCC) are designed based upon this type of highly collaborative organizational structure, consistent with the general principles of community-based participatory research.

Assessment of "best practice" treatment patterns for a "radiation oncology community outreach group" engaged in cancer disparities outcomes.

Objective: Minority patients with cancer have higher recurrence rates than the general population and are more likely to be treated at community centers where the standard of care has been reported to be inferior to that at academic centers. These issues are being explored by Radiation Oncology Community Outreach Group (ROCOG), a consortium of 5 Community Radiation Oncology centers participating in a National Cancer Institute-funded Disparities Grant. As a quality assurance/quality improvement initiative, this study was undertaken to ensure that treatment was at a "best practice" level.