SelfMade Health Network Addressing Tobacco and Cancer Disparities Among Populations with Low Socio-economic Characteristics - The SelfMade Health Network (SMHN), operated by the Patient Advocate Foundation, will focus its CDC’s National Networks Driving Action: Preventing Tobacco- and Cancer-Related Health Disparities by Building Equitable Communities work in enhancing the capacity, quality, and performance of state tobacco prevention and cancer control programs and other programs addressing populations with low socioeconomic status (SES) characteristics (i.e., lower incomes, lower paying jobs, uninsured, underinsured, lower levels of educational attainment, residing in medically underserved areas – rural and metropolitan and health professional shortage areas) to advance best and promising practices, including Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) for this unique population. We aim to educate, empower, and mobilize systems within communities to eliminate cancer- and tobacco-related disparities among populations with low SES characteristics by increasing knowledge, attitudes, practices, and access that influence the adoption of preventive and care-seeking behaviors (e.g., tobacco cessation association with cancers among persons with low SES characteristics. In implementing its project services, SMHN will use a multi-dimensional approach that includes multi-sectoral partnerships and enhances collaborative activities coupled with investing in innovative interventions to improve access to for the population of focus to evidence-based, affordable, quality health care. These innovative interventions will include the allocation of community-level mini-grants that focus on reducing late-stage cancer diagnoses, promoting cancer early detection screening, and tobacco use prevention and cessation. In addition, we will expand the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Learning Collaborative will be expanded to become a cancer prevention Communities of Practice (CoP) and we will also establish a tobacco-related CoP Training and technical assistance (TTA) will be provided through the SMHN TTA Hub, using intersectional population and community-led approaches. Mass reach health communication strategies will be expanded to include Linked In, podcasts, and the development of customizable resources and campaigns. SMHN will achieve the following outcomes by the end of the project period: • Increased participation in Communities of Practice (CoP) among community leaders, partners from critical sectors, coalitions, SMEs, CoP members and National Network members. The goal of participation in the CoP includes increased multi sectoral partnership opportunities, leveraging resources, setting priorities, action planning, expanding training and technical assistance (TTA) opportunities and multi-level, multi sectoral coordination. • Increased knowledge of NTCP, NCCCP programs and other state, local, tribal, territorial, and community-based programs/partners/coalitions, through TTA, of evidence-based/promising practice policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change interventions and mass reach health communication efforts focused on advancing health equity by addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). • Advancement of health equity by assisting programs/partners/coalitions in the increased implementation of (1) evidence-based/promising practice PSE change interventions (2) innovative interventions addressing upstream SDOH to advance health equity and (3) mass reach health communication efforts.
