Colorectal Cancer Screening Navigator Program for Low Income and Non-English Speaking Populations

Mass General Brigham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Colorectal Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Patient Navigation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00476970

2006P 002254

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to implement and in a controlled randomised trial test a program to identify and overcome barriers to CRC screening and thus improve CRC screening rates at MGH Chelsea HC.

Our hypothesis is that a bilingual navigator program, enhanced by using trained interpreting staff will improve CRC screening rates at MGH Chelsea HC overall, and decrease disparities between patients with limited English proficiency and English speakers

Full description

We developed a training program for five health center interpreters fluent in eight different languages. Patients randomly assigned to the study intervention receive an introductory letter in their native language. During the initial contact the navigator educates patients about CRC screening and explores patients' barriers to CRC screening. Based on results from a qualitative study conducted at in 2006, we developed interventions to overcome individual barriers to CRC screening tailored to each individual patient. Specific interventions include elucidation of culturally-specific health beliefs; teaching about cancer risk, colonoscopy, and colon prep administration; and help with appointment-making and transport.

Enrollment: 1,223 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 52 to 79 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Between 52-79 years of age
• Have not had a colonoscopy within the last 10 years
• Have not had a sigmoidoscopy/barium enema within the past 5 years
• Have not had a home fecal occult blood testing within the past year.

Exclusion criteria

• Acutely ill
• Dementia
• Metastatic cancer
• Schizophrenia
• Any end stage disease

Trial design

Primary purpose: Screening

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,223 participants in 2 patient groups

Patient Navigation Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomized to this arm will receive language-concordant patient navigation in the form of an introductory letter with educational material followed by phone or in-person contact to provide individually tailored interventions.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Patient Navigation

Usual Care

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants randomized to this arm will receive no additional navigation beyond the usual care for the duration of the 9-month intervention. Participants will be offered navigation services after the completion of the intervention period.