Cervical cancer remains a significant health issue, despite advancements like human papillomavirus (HPV) tests and Pap smears. Health centers across the United States, including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) that provide essential healthcare services to 30.5 million low-income and medically underserved patients, continue to struggle with raising cervical cancer screening rates.
Thanks to a grant from the Prevent Cancer Foundation®, we at the Weitzman Institute will be working for the next two years on strategies to improve cervical cancer screening rates among FQHC patients.
One promising solution, which we will investigate, is HPV test self-sampling, which allows women to collect their own samples for HPV testing. This less invasive method may encourage more women to participate in regular screening.
Our project’s goal is to help FQHCs improve cervical cancer screening rates by facilitating the adoption of self-sampling. To achieve this goal, we will develop an implementation package for FQHCs that addresses their specific needs and challenges. This package will provide materials that FQHCs need to successfully integrate self-sampling into existing health services.
Our research team will identify the barriers and facilitators to self-sampling by conducting a literature review, interviewing FQHC leaders and staff, and holding focus groups with patients. Next, we will develop and tailor materials to support the implementation of self-sampling. The project’s final phase includes developing HPV test self-sampling procedures and workflows for FQHCs; writing scripts for healthcare providers; and creating educational resources for patients. The goal is to make it easier for people to get screened for cervical cancer, even if they face barriers like discomfort with traditional Pap smear procedures. We hope that by helping FQHCs offer HPV test self-sampling, more people will screen themselves in private, at their convenience, and without needing a provider-collected sample.
“In the future, this work may make cervical cancer screenings more accessible and routine in FQHCs, leading to earlier detection of cervical cancer for more people,” said Dr. Grace Wang, Director of Research at the Weitzman Institute, and the project’s principal investigator. “We are grateful to the Prevent Cancer Foundation for its support of our efforts to improve women’s health.”
In addition to Dr. Wang, the Weitzman Institute’s interdisciplinary research team will complete the project in collaboration with Community Health Center, Inc., Connecticut’s largest FQHC network.
The Prevent Cancer Foundation is the only U.S.-based nonprofit organization solely dedicated to cancer prevention and early detection. Its mission is empowering people to stay ahead of cancer through prevention and early detection. To learn more, please visit the Foundation’s website.
The Weitzman Institute is the research, education, and policy arm of the Moses/Weitzman Health System, whose affiliates include Community Health Center, Inc.