Lung Cancer Alliance
Lung Cancer Alliance will receive $1,599,300 over three years for the Alabama Lung Cancer Awareness, Screening & Education program (ALCASE) which will design and implement a community-based model to reduce the burden of lung cancer in 7 underserved, primarily African American counties in Alabama through capacity building, outreach, education, screening, and support.
Need
The Black Belt region, which runs through Alabama is one of the poorest areas of the United States, with limited economic prospects, poor health outcomes and life expectancies among the shortest in the country. The Black Belt has high incidences of and mortality from lung cancer as well as large rural populations that are older, less educated and poorer and with higher rates of smoking than the national average. Rural areas of the state also have more African American residents, a population that is typically at increased risk for lung cancer. In the United States, lung cancer incidence is 33% higher and mortality is 28% higher in African American men compared to white men.
Project
The Alabama Lung Cancer Awareness, Screening & Education program (ALCASE) aims to decrease these disparities through education, awareness and increased access to lung cancer screening. ALCASE will be composed of three interventions: Community Health Advisors (CHA) awareness, education and community outreach; screening technical assistance and support; and ancillary interventions and services for those diagnosed. Working with the well-established Community Health Advisor Program at Deep South Network for Cancer Control (DSN) out of the University of Alabama, LCA will provide lung cancer risk and screening training to 175 CHAs. The CHA model is a proven, community-based health promotion approach that identifies and trains ‘natural helpers’ who then seek to improve the health status of individuals and the community.
Project Leader:
Maureen Rigney, mrigney@lungcanceralliance.org