The National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health recently announced a new study aimed at improving the quality of cancer care in rural areas among low-income and underserved populations. The request for applications that will go out at the end of September encourages two areas of study: 1) observational research that includes pilot testing of interventions to understand and address predictors of cancer; and 2) intervention research to address known predictors. Specifically, the focus for observational studies (with pilot testing) is understanding and addressing the predictive and/or mediating role of social determinants of health, barriers to care, and treatment; and the focus for interventional research is on addressing quality of care related to cancer diagnosis, treatment and/or survivorship. Most existing cancer control interventions are not ready for direct implementation and dissemination in low-income rural areas, so proposals should seek to develop, adapt, and/or implement, and test interventions. Earlier this year, NCI launched The Cancer Information Service, an online resource for answers to difficult questions, treatment center locations, and help finding clinical trials among other topics. Click here for the full announcement.
