Promoting patient portal use among Black women to lower barriers to breast cancer screening - Project Summary/Abstract This K08 award will support the training and research experience needed for me to become an independent clinician investigator in the development and evaluation of interventions to address cancer screening inequities. I am an Assistant Professor of Medicine and primary care physician at the University of Washington. The training goals set forth in this proposal will allow me to achieve my career goals to 1) develop expertise in implementation science and health equity research, 2) lead research with communities to address inequities, and 3) develop and evaluate interventions to address inequities. I have convened a mentorship team with expertise in implementation science (Dr. Bryan Weiner), community-engaged research (Dr. Geetanjali Chander and Dr. Rachel Issaka), and the design and evaluation of novel interventions (Dr. James Ralston) to help me to achieve these goals. Breast cancer mortality is significantly higher and screening rates are significantly lower among Black women compared to White women. Patient portals offer multiple features such as online mammogram scheduling, screening reminders, and secure messaging that can help lower barriers to breast cancer screening (BCS); however, Black patients access the portal less often than White patients. Inequitable use in portals that may contribute to differential BCS rates is an example of an intervention-generated inequity. In this K08 proposal, we will design, implement, and test an intervention to promote portal use among Black women to address this intervention-generated inequity and to help lower barriers to BCS. The specific aims of the research are to 1) determine facilitators and barriers for portal use to facilitate BCS among Black women, 2) co-design an adaptive (multi-phase) intervention for portal access and uptake to facilitate BCS, and 3) pilot and evaluate the adaptive (multi-phase) intervention among Black women due for BCS and not engaged in portal use. The proposed work will inform an R01-level, multi-center randomized trial to test the intervention and help me to become an independent, NIH-funded investigator focused on developing pragmatic, community co-designed interventions to address cancer screening inequities.
