COE Overview

Community Outreach & Engagement works to establish and strengthen community partnerships throughout the region by connecting members of the community as well as community organizations directly to researchers and clinicians at the Cancer Center. Leveraging these partnerships, together we hope to better address the cancer-related challenges in our region, and over time, reduce the overall burden of cancer.

We will accomplish our goals, in part, by facilitating the sharing of meaningful insights and data between the community and Cancer Center members, disseminating evidence-based research findings back to the community, and supporting opportunities for education and advocacy within both the Cancer Center and the community. Importantly, as cancer is more easily cured if detected early, our education efforts will primarily focus on prevention, screening, early detection, and survivorship.

Program Aims

• Monitor the cancer burden over time across the region to ensure our research is relevant and impactful
• Lead strategic development, implementation, evaluation, and promotion of education and advocacy programs and research initiatives that engage or partner with local communities
• Promote health equity and eliminate cancer health disparities by building community partnerships, conducting community-engaged research, and increasing diversity in clinical trials

Catchment Area

The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center serves a 10-county area in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. Community Outreach & Engagement efforts extend throughout the region.

• Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Adams, Brown, Warren, and Montgomery Counties in Ohio
• Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties in Kentucky

Resources

Check back soon for COE resources.

Programs & Events

• Dialogue Circles
• Charge Against Cancer
• Reducing Your Risk Health Fairs

COE Leadership
	Melinda Butsch Kovacic, MPH, PhD Associate Director for Community Outreach & Engagement

COE Action Group Tasks

 

• Help Cancer Center members to better understand the toll of cancer, particularly on underserved populations
• See the value of community engagement in research and ensure that research is informed by ALL the people that it impacts
• Create programming to teach Cancer Center members skills to effectively engage with and listen to the community
• Establish partnerships with community organizations and research advisory board(s) of community representatives to make the sharing of ideas between community and Cancer Center members easier
• Identify processes to disseminate evidence-based research findings more broadly