WVU's Office of Health Services Research partnering with Cancer Institute on cervical cancer prevention project
The WVU School of Public Health's Office of Health Services Research is partnering with Stephenie Kennedy-Rea, Ed.D., and the WVU Cancer Institute in a new, five-year effort funded by the National Cancer Institute to reduce health disparities in cervical cancer in Appalachia.
This effort spans eight health systems across Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. Adam Baus, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the School of Public Health's Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and director of the Office of Health Services Research, serves as the health informaticist in engaging health systems in this effort and enabling evaluation and research across electronic health record platforms. Cecil Pollard, assistant director of the Office of Health Services Research, serves as liaison in creating and sustaining partnerships across participating health systems. The Office of Health Services Research team will help ensure that research findings are translated into sustained practice and policy change across partnering health systems.
As noted by the Cancer Institute, this effort tests the effectiveness of an integrated cervical cancer prevention program consisting of three interventions:
- Nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation counseling services
- At-home HPV screening
- Practice-based intervention to improve HPV vaccination rates among patients age 11 to 12 and 13 to 26 years of age
Read the full story about the project and its funding online.