Bringing Oncology Care to Rural Communities

By Jo Cavallo
September 25, 2017

The organizations and programs listed here are helping to address and reduce disparities in cancer care in rural communities.

• ASCO University Disparities in Cancer Care: Take Action (http://university.asco.org/disparities-cancer-care-take-action). This free slide-based course is designed to help oncologists increase their knowledge of disparities in cancer care relating to socioeconomic status, access to care, age-related issues, and obesity. The course offers 1.5 continuing education credits.
• ASCO’s Quality Improvement Grant (https://www.asco.org/practice--guidelines/quality-guidelines/-quality-improvement-grant). Supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the aim of this program is to increase quality cancer care in medically underserved communities by providing quality improvement training to practices serving a high proportion of racial minorities and/or patients of low socioeconomic status.
• Remote Area Medical (https://-ramusa.org). This organization delivers free, high-quality vision, dental, and medical care to underserved populations across the United States. Since the organization’s inception in 1985, more than 120,000 licensed dental, vision, and medical practitioners have volunteered their time. For information on how to participate in Remote Area Medical’s mobile medical clinics, call 865-579-1530.
• Cancer Center Without Walls (https://cancer.uvahealth.com/about-uva--cancer-center/outreach/Cancer%20Center%20Without%20Walls%20Advisory%20Board). A program established in 2013 at the University of Virginia Cancer Center, Cancer Center Without Walls seeks to reduce cancer health disparities in Appalachian Virginia. Its advisory board brings together representatives from three health districts in Southwest Virginia, and the collaboration increases patient access to advanced cancer care and research.

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