Neighborhood Disadvantage and Prostate Tumor Aggressiveness among African American and European American Men.

BACKGROUND: Studies have identified associations between neighborhood disadvantage (ND), which is more likely to affect African American (AA) individuals, and aggressive prostate cancer. Thus, ND may contribute to prostate cancer disparities. However, it is unknown what ND components drive aggressive disease and whether associations vary by race. METHODS: We evaluated associations between aggressive prostate cancer and four ND metrics-Area Deprivation Index (ADI), validated Bayesian Neighborhood Deprivation Index (NDI), racial isolation (RI) index, and historical redlining, and whether these factors interacted with race, among men with prostate cancer treated at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (2004-2021). RESULTS: We included 1,458 men (698 European American and 760 AA). AA men were more likely to experience ND. In adjusted models, the ADI, RI, and redlining were significantly associated with aggressive versus nonaggressive prostate cancer overall [ADI, OR for one SD increase = 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-1.30; RI, OR = 1.27, CI, 1.07-1.51; redlining, OR = 1.77; CI, 1.23-2.56] and among AA men. The NDI was associated with aggressive prostate cancer among AA men (OR = 1.32, 95% credible interval: 1.13-1.57); percent in poverty received the largest importance weight. The ADI (P heterogeneity = 0.002) and NDI (exceedance probability heterogeneity = 98.1%) significantly interacted with race, such that associations were significantly stronger for AA men. CONCLUSIONS: We identified novel significant positive associations for racial segregation and historical redlining with aggressive prostate cancer and significant interactions between ND indices and race. IMPACT: Findings inform specific ND components that are associated with aggressive prostate cancer and suggest the ND effect is stronger for AA men, which has implications for interventions to reduce disparities.

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Prostate Tumor RNA Expression of Stress-Related Genes.

Importance: African American men experience greater prostate cancer incidence and mortality than White men. Growing literature supports associations of neighborhood disadvantage, which disproportionately affects African American men, with aggressive prostate cancer; chronic stress and downstream biological impacts (eg, increased inflammation) may contribute to these associations. Objective: To examine whether several neighborhood disadvantage metrics are associated with prostate tumor RNA expression of stress-related genes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study leveraged prostate tumor transcriptomic data for African American and White men with prostate cancer who received radical prostatectomy at the University of Maryland Medical Center between August 1992 and January 2021. Data were analyzed from May 2023 to April 2024. Exposures: Using addresses at diagnosis, 2 neighborhood deprivation metrics (Area Deprivation Index [ADI] and validated bayesian Neighborhood Deprivation Index) as well as the Racial Isolation Index (RI) and historical redlining were applied to participants' addresses. Self-reported race was determined using electronic medical records. Main Outcomes and Measures: A total of 105 stress-related genes were evaluated with each neighborhood metric using linear regression, adjusting for race, age, and year of surgery. Genes in the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA) and stress-related signaling genes were included. Results: A total of 218 men (168 [77%] African American, 50 [23%] White) with a median (IQR) age of 58 (53-63) years were included. African American participants experienced greater neighborhood disadvantage than White participants (median [IQR] ADI, 115 [100-130] vs 92 [83-104]; median [IQR] RI, 0.68 [0.34-0.87] vs 0.11 [0.06-0.14]). ADI was positively associated with expression for 11 genes; HTR6 (serotonin pathway) remained significant after multiple-comparison adjustment (ß = 0.003; SE, 0.001; P < .001; Benjamini-Hochberg q value = .01). Several genes, including HTR6, were associated with multiple metrics. We observed higher expression of 5 proinflammatory genes in the CTRA with greater neighborhood disadvantage (eg, CXCL8 and ADI, ß = 0.008; SE, 0.003; P = .01; q value = .21). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, the expression of several stress-related genes in prostate tumors was higher among men residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods. This study is one of the first to suggest associations of neighborhood disadvantage with prostate tumor RNA expression. Additional research is needed in larger studies to replicate findings and further investigate interrelationships of neighborhood factors, tumor biology, and aggressive prostate cancer to inform interventions to reduce disparities.

Evaluation of organizational capacity in the implementation of a church-based cancer education program.

Implementation evaluations have increasingly taken into account how features of local context help determine implementation outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine which contextual features of organizational capacity led directly to the RE-AIM Framework implementation outcomes of intervention reach and number of days taken to implement, in an implementation trial of a series of cancer education workshops conducted across 13 African American churches in Maryland. We used a configurational approach with Coincidence Analysis to identify specific features of organizational capacity that uniquely distinguished churches with implementation success from those that were less successful. Aspects of organizational capacity (e.g., congregation size, staffing/volunteers, health ministry experience) were drawn from an existing measure of church organizational capacity for health promotion. Solution pathways leading to higher intervention reach included: having a health ministry in place for 1-4 years; or having fewer than 100 members; or mid-size churches that had conducted health promotion activities in 1-4 different topics in the past 2 years. Solution pathways to implementing the intervention in fewer number of days included: having conducted 1-2 health promotion activities in the past 2 years; or having 1-5 part-time staff and a pastor without additional outside employment; or churches with a doctorally prepared pastor and a weekly attendance of 101-249 members. Study findings can inform future theory, research, and practice in implementation of evidence-based health promotion interventions delivered in faith-based and other limited-resource community settings. Findings support the important role of organizational capacity in implementation outcomes in these settings.

Amplifying Their Voices: Advice, Guidance, and Perceived Value of Cancer Biobanking Research Among an Older, Diverse Cohort.

The use of biobanks may accelerate scientists' chances of developing cures and treatments that are tailored to individuals' biological makeup-a function of the precision medicine movement. However, given the underrepresentation of certain populations in biobanks, the benefits of these resources may not be equitable for all groups, including older, multi-ethnic populations. The objective of this study was to better understand older, multi-ethnic populations' (1) perceptions of the value of cancer biobanking research, (2) study design preferences, and (3) guidance on ways to promote and increase participation. This study was designed using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and involved eight FGDs with 67 older (65-74 years old) black and white residents from Baltimore City and Prince George's County, MD. FGDs lasted between 90 and 120 min, and participants received a $25 Target gift card for their participation. Analysis involved an inductive approach in which we went through a series of open and axial coding techniques to generate themes and subthemes. Multiple themes emerged from the FGDs for the development of future cancer-related biobanking research including (1) expectations/anticipated benefits, (2) biobanking design preferences, and (3) ways to optimize participation. Overall, most participants were willing to provide biospecimens and favored cancer-related biobank. To increase participation of older, diverse participants in biobanking protocols, researchers need to engage older, diverse persons as consultants in order to better understand the value of biobanking research to individuals from the various populations. Scientists should also incorporate suggestions from the community on garnering trust and increasing comfort with study design.

Cluster-randomized trial comparing organizationally tailored versus standard approach for integrating an evidence-based cancer control intervention into African American churches.

The field of implementation science has devoted increasing attention to optimizing the fit of evidence-based interventions to the organizational settings in which they are delivered. Institutionalization of health promotion into routine organizational operations is one way to achieve this. However, less is known about how to maximize fit and achieve institutionalization, particularly in settings outside of the healthcare system. This paper reports on findings from a parallel cluster-randomized trial that compared an organizationally tailored with a standard (core components only) approach for institutionalizing ("integrating") an evidence-based cancer control intervention into African American churches. Churches randomized to the organizationally tailored condition identified three or more implementation strategies from a menu of 20, with an implementation time frame for each. The primary study outcome was assessed through the Faith-Based Organization Health Integration Inventory, a measure of institutionalization of health promotion activities in church settings, completed by pastors at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Seventeen churches were randomized and 14 were analyzed as 3 did not implement the study protocol. Though the percent increase in total integration score was greater in the tailored condition (N = 9; 18%) than in the standard condition (N = 5; 12%), linear mixed-effect models did not detect a statistically significant group × time interaction. Despite the challenges of integrating health promotion activities outside of healthcare organizations, the current approach shows promise for fostering sustainable health promotion in community settings and merits further study.

Researchers have become interested in studying how health promotion activities fit within the organizational setting where they are delivered. Health activities that are integrated into the host setting's structures and routine operations are more likely to be fully executed, effective, and sustained. Unfortunately, we know little about how to achieve such integration. This is especially true when working outside of a healthcare system, in community organizations like churches. We report findings from a study that compared an approach to tailoring health promotion activities into their host settings, with a standard, non-tailored approach. The study was conducted in 14 African American churches randomly assigned to the tailored or standard group. The health promotion activity involved training lay people to conduct cancer educational workshops for church members. We measured the extent to which the churches integrated health promotion activities into their structures, processes, resources, and communication at the beginning and one year later. We found that while the churches had overall increases in these factors over time, those in the tailored group did not do so to a greater degree than those in the standard group. Even so, this approach to tailoring health promotion activities to the organizational setting merits future study.

An Approach to Adapting a Community-Based Cancer Control Intervention to Organizational Context.

There has been increasing attention in implementation science to optimizing the fit of evidence-based interventions to the organizational settings where they are delivered. However, less is known about how to maximize intervention-context fit, particularly in community-based settings. We describe a new strategy to customize evidence-based health promotion interventions to community sites. Specifically, leaders in African American churches completed a memorandum of understanding where they were asked to identify two or more health promotion implementation strategies from a menu of 20 and select a planned implementation time frame for each. In a pilot phase with three churches, the menu-based strategy and protocols were successfully implemented and finalized in preparation for a subsequent randomized trial. The three pilot churches identified between two and nine strategies (e.g., form a health ministry, allocate space or budget for health activities, include health in church communications/sermons). The selected strategies varied widely, reinforcing the need for interventions that can be customized to fit the organizational context. Despite the challenges of integrating health promotion activities into non-health focused organizations, this approach has promise for fostering sustainable health activities in community settings.

Development and validation of an instrument to assess institutionalization of health promotion in faith-based organizations.

Institutionalization of health promotion interventions occurs when the organization makes changes to support the program as a component of its routine operations. To date there has not been a way to systematically measure institutionalization of health promotion interventions outside of healthcare settings. The purpose of the present study was to develop and evaluate the initial psychometric properties of an instrument to assess institutionalization (i.e., integration) of health activities into faith-based organizations (i.e., churches). This process was informed by previous institutionalization models led by a team of experts and a community-based advisory panel. We recruited African American church leaders (N = 91) to complete a 22-item instrument. An exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors: 1) Organizational Structures (e.g., existing health ministry, health team), 2) Organizational Processes (e.g., records on health activities; instituted health policy), 3) Organizational Resources (e.g., health promotion budget; space for health activities), and 4) Organizational Communication (e.g., health content in church bulletins, discussion of health within sermons) that explained 62.3 % of the variance. The measure, the Faith-Based Organization Health Integration Inventory (FBO-HII), had excellent internal consistency reliability (α = .89) including the subscales (α = .90, .82, .81, and .87). This measure has promising initial psychometric properties for assessing institutionalization of health promotion interventions in faith-based settings.

Planning for Community Scale-Up of Project HEAL: Insights From the SPRINT Initiative.

Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning) is an evidence-based intervention rooted in health behavior change theory and aims to increase cancer awareness and early detection through African American faith-based organizations. This study explored the potential for broader scale-up and dissemination of Project HEAL with the team's participation in a training program called Speeding Research-Tested INTerventions (SPRINT). The SPRINT training was framed using tools from the Business Model Canvas and the Value Proposition Canvas to guide trainees in designing (1) compelling value propositions, (2) a minimal viable product, and (3) questions to gain critical insight from various stakeholders during a process called Customer Discovery. We report on our experiences and insights on intervention scale-up that we gained from the training, including key findings from 41 discovery interviews conducted with various stakeholders of the church. We learned several valuable lessons from the discovery interviews such as scale-up will likely be more incremental than immediate. Additional refinement is needed to scale up the intervention for "real-world" application, such as making our technology more user-friendly and including additional health topics beyond cancer. We discuss how insights from the training refined our plans for future scale-up and dissemination in a constituent-informed way.

Community Engagement to Address Cancer Health Disparities: A Process EVALUATION using the Partnership Self-Assessment Tool.

BACKGROUND: African Americans suffer disproportionately from cancer health disparities, and population-level prevention is needed. OBJECTIVES: A community-academic partnership to address cancer health disparities in two predominately African American jurisdictions in Maryland was evaluated. METHODS: The Partnership Self-Assessment Tool (PSAT) was used in a process evaluation to assess the partnership in eight domains (partnership synergy, leadership, efficiency, management, resources, decision making, participation, and satisfaction). RESULTS: Mean scores in each domain were high, indicative of a functional and synergistic partnership. However, scores for decision making (Baltimore City's mean score = 9.3; Prince George's County's mean score = 10.8; p = .02) and participation (Baltimore City's mean score = 16.0; Prince George's County's mean score = 18.0; p = .04) were significantly lower in Baltimore City. CONCLUSIONS: Community-academic partnerships are promising approaches to help address cancer health disparities in African American communities. Factors that influence decision making and participation within partnerships require further research.

Web-based versus in-person methods for training lay community health advisors to implement health promotion workshops: participant outcomes from a cluster-randomized trial.

Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning) is an implementation trial that compared two methods of training lay peer community health advisors (CHAs)-in-person ("Traditional") versus web-based ("Technology")-to conduct a series of three evidence-based cancer educational workshops in African American churches. This analysis reports on participant outcomes from Project HEAL. Fifteen churches were randomized to the two CHA training methods and the intervention impact was examined over 24 months. This study was conducted in Prince George's County, MD, and enrolled 375 church members age 40-75. Participants reported on knowledge and screening behaviors for breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. Overall, cancer knowledge in all areas increased during the study period (p < .001). There were significant increases in digital rectal exam (p < .05), fecal occult blood test (p < .001), and colonoscopy (p < .01) at 24 months; however, this did not differ by study group. Mammography maintenance (56% overall) was evidenced by women reporting multiple mammograms within the study period. Participants attending all three workshops were more likely to report a fecal occult blood test or colonoscopy at 24 months (p < .05) than those who attended only one. These findings suggest that lay individuals can receive web-based training to successfully implement an evidence-based health promotion intervention that results in participant-level outcomes comparable with (a) people trained using the traditional classroom method and (b) previous efficacy trials. Findings have implications for resources and use of technology to increase widespread dissemination of evidence-based health promotion interventions through training lay persons in community settings.

Development of tailored feedback reports on organizational capacity for health promotion in African American churches.

Standard community-engaged research methods involve reporting research findings back to study participants. Project HEAL is an implementation trial conducted in 14 African American churches. This paper reports on a strengths-based approach to reporting Project HEAL organizational capacity data back to church leadership, through use of individualized church reports. Pastors in each church completed a church organizational capacity assessment. The study team, including community partners representing church leadership, co-created a channel and content to disseminate the capacity data back to Project HEAL church leaders. This consisted of a 4-page lay report that included the church's capacity scores, and recommendations for future evidence-based health promotion programming matched to their capacity. The study team was able to meet with nine of the 14 churches to review the report, which took an average of six and a half weeks to schedule. The individualized church reports were well-received by pastors, who expressed an intention to share the information with others in the church and to sustain health promotion activities in their organizations. Though the individualized reports were embraced by the pastors, it is unknown whether this process will result in sustainable health promotion in these organizations without further follow-up.

Recruitment of African American Churches to Participate in Cancer Early Detection Interventions: A Community Perspective.

This article describes the process used to engage and recruit African American churches to serve as participants in two multi-year behavioural cancer research interventions from a community perspective. Community-based organizations used purposive sampling in engaging and recruiting advisory panel members and churches to participate in these interventions. Trust, respect, open dialogue with participants, and commitment to address community health needs contributed to successful engagement and recruitment of African American churches to serve as participants in these cancer research projects. Our results may help others engage and recruit African American churches to participate in future interventions.

Assessing Capacity of Faith-Based Organizations for Health Promotion Activities.

BACKGROUND: Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are important venues for health promotion, particularly in medically underserved communities. These organizations vary considerably in their structural capacities, which may be linked to variability in implementation success for health promotion initiatives. Lacking an existing validated assessment of organizational capacity specific to FBOs, an initial prototype assessment was developed. METHOD: The Faith-Based Organization Capacity Inventory (FBO-CI) assesses three structural areas of capacity: Staffing and Space, Health Promotion Experience, and External Collaboration. The multidisciplinary team, including FBO leaders, codeveloped the initial instrument. The initial reliability from a convenience sample of 34 African American churches including descriptions of FBOs representing three capacity levels is reported. RESULTS: The FBO-CI demonstrated feasibility of administration using an in-person interview format, and the three subscales had acceptable internal reliability (α ~ .70). Most churches had an established health ministry (n = 23) and had conducted activities across an average of seven health areas in the previous 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: This initial FBO-CI prototype is promising, and future work should consider validation with a larger sample of churches and domain expansion based on the conceptual model. The FBO-CI has a number of potential uses for researchers, FBO leaders, and practitioners working with FBOs in health promotion initiatives.

The Role of Leadership Support in a Church-Based Cancer Education Implementation Study.

Leadership plays a role in the success of an organization's initiatives. We examined church leaders' support-as perceived by lay community health advisor (CHA) interventionists-and implementation outcomes in a cancer early detection trial. CHAs perceived that their pastors: helped promote the intervention (M = 3.1/4, SD 1.2) and attended about half (M = 1.6/3, SD 1.3) the workshops. CHAs used marginally more techniques to recruit members when they perceived pastors were engaged in promoting the program (r s = .44, p = .08). Pastor attendance was positively associated with member enrollment (r s = .50, p < .05). Pastor support may be related to receptivity of both CHAs and congregants to engage in church health promotion.

Can Women Facilitate Men's Prostate Cancer Screening Informed Decision-Making? The M-PACT Trial.

The M-PACT study compared an all-male with a mixed-sex intervention to increase informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening among African-American men in church settings. We recruited 262 men in 18 churches randomized to the two intervention approaches. Trained and certified lay peer community health advisors in each church led a series of four men's health workshops on informed decision-making for prostate cancer screening. African-American male workshop participants completed baseline, post-workshop, and 12-month follow-up surveys. Contrary to our expectations, including women in the workshops did not result in increased intervention efficacy for the informed decision-making outcomes as both groups showed significant improvement over time in several study outcomes including stage of decision-making for prostate cancer screening, preference for role in decision-making, prostate cancer knowledge, and self-reports of prostate specific antigen testing. Finally, men who attended multiple workshops had better informed decision-making outcomes on several indicators. The current findings suggest mixed results from including women in this men's health educational intervention. Future work should consider optimal ways of providing family support for African-American men's health promotion.

Adoption, reach, and implementation of a cancer education intervention in African American churches.

BACKGROUND: Use of technology is increasing in health promotion and has continued growth potential in intervention research. Guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, this paper reports on the adoption, reach, and implementation of Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning)-a community-based implementation trial of a cancer educational intervention in 14 African American churches. We compare adoption, reach, and implementation at the organizational and participant level for churches in which lay peer community health advisors (CHAs) were trained using traditional classroom didactic methods compared with a new online system. METHODS: Fifteen churches were randomized to one of two study groups in which two CHAs per church were trained through either classroom ("Traditional"; n = 16 CHAs in 8 churches) or web-based ("Technology"; n = 14 CHAs in 7 churches) training methods. Once trained and certified, all CHAs conducted a series of three group educational workshops in their churches on cancer early detection (breast, prostate, and colorectal). Adoption, reach, and implementation were assessed using multiple data sources including church-level data, participant engagement in the workshops, and study staff observations of CHA performance. RESULTS: The project had a 41% overall adoption rate at the church level. In terms of reach, a total of 375 participants enrolled in Project HEAL-226 participants in the Traditional group (43% reach) and 149 in the Technology group (21% reach; p < .10). Implementation was evaluated in terms of adherence, dosage, and quality. All churches fully completed the three workshops; however, the Traditional churches took somewhat longer (M = 84 days) to complete the workshop series than churches in the Technology group (M = 64 days). Other implementation outcomes were comparable between both the Traditional and Technology groups (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the Project HEAL intervention had reasonable adoption, though reach could have been better. Implementation was strong across both study groups, suggesting the promise of using web-based methods to disseminate and implement evidence-based interventions in faith-based settings and other areas where community health educators work to eliminate health disparities.

Dimensions of sustainability for a health communication intervention in African American churches: a multi-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Sustainability of evidence-based health promotion interventions has received increased research attention in recent years. This paper reports sustainability data from Project HEAL (Health through Early Awareness and Learning) a cancer communication implementation trial about early detection, based in African American churches. In this paper, we used a framework by Scheirer and Dearing (Am J Publ Health 101:2059-2067, 2011) to evaluate multiple dimensions of sustainability from Project HEAL. METHODS: We examined the following dimensions of sustainability: (a) continued benefits for intervention recipients, (b) continuation of intervention activities, c) maintaining community partnerships, (d) changes in organizational policies or structures, (e) sustained attention to the underlying issues, (f) diffusion to additional sites, or even (g) unplanned consequences of the intervention. Project HEAL provided a three-workshop cancer educational series delivered by trained lay peer community health advisors (CHAs) in their churches. Multiple sources of sustainability were collected at 12 and 24 months after the intervention that reflect several levels of analysis: participant surveys; interviews with CHAs; records from the project's management database; and open-ended comments from CHAs, staff, and community partners. RESULTS: Outcomes differ for each dimension of sustainability. For continued benefit, 39 and 37% of the initial 375 church members attended the 12- and 24-month follow-up workshops, respectively. Most participants reported sharing the information from Project HEAL with family or friends (92% at 12 months; 87% at 24 months). For continuation of intervention activities, some CHAs reported that the churches held at least one additional cancer educational workshop (33% at 12 months; 24% at 24 months), but many more CHAs reported subsequent health activities in their churches (71% at 12 months; 52% at 24 months). No church replicated the original series of three workshops. Additional data confirm the maintenance of community partnerships, some changes in church health policies, and continued attention to health issues by churches and CHAs. CONCLUSIONS: The multiple dimensions of sustainability require different data sources and levels of analysis and show varied sustainability outcomes in this project. The findings reinforce the dynamic nature of evidence-based health interventions in community contexts.

Health Ministry and Activities in African American Faith-Based Organizations: A Qualitative Examination of Facilitators, Barriers, and Use of Technology.

African American faith-based organizations (FBOs) play an important role in addressing health disparities. Increasingly, churches offer health fairs, screenings, or education through health ministries. However, little is known about linking these organizations with evidence-based interventions (EBIs) developed by research. This study explored 1) factors that facilitate or impede health ministry activities, including the adoption of EBIs, and 2) opportunities to use technology to support/enhance the capacity of FBOs to sustain health-related activities. We conducted 18 key informant interviews with African American pastors and FBO leaders and six focus groups with members. A popular health ministry strategy was distribution of print materials. There was limited awareness of EBIs and how to access them. Challenges included maintaining qualified volunteers, financial resources, and technical assistance needs. Participants used technology and social media but older adults did so less often. Findings have implications for dissemination/implementation research in FBOs, in relation to the translational continuum.

Feasibility and acceptability of SMS text messaging in a prostate cancer educational intervention for African American men.

African Americans' greater access to mobile phones makes short messaging service technology a promising complement to health promotion interventions. Short messaging service text messages were added to the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training project, a men's health intervention for African American men. We report on the feasibility and acceptability of the use of short messaging service text messages in the intervention. Short messaging service text messages served as (1) workshop reminders; (2) post-workshop message reinforcement; (3) spiritual/motivational messages; and (4) participant retention. At workshop 4, over 65 percent of participants wished to continue receiving the messages. While there was an increase in recall over time, more than one-third of the participants did not recall receiving the 53 text messages. However, recall was considerably greater among men who attended the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training workshops. Overall, the inclusion of text messages in health promotion interventions targeting mature African American men was found to be feasible and acceptable.

Mobilizing social support networks to improve cancer screening: the COACH randomized controlled trial study design.

BACKGROUND: Disadvantaged populations face many barriers to cancer care, including limited support in navigating through the complexities of the healthcare system. Family members play an integral role in caring for patients and provide valuable care coordination; however, the effect of family navigators on adherence to cancer screening has not previously been evaluated. Training and evaluating trusted family members and other support persons may improve cancer outcomes for vulnerable patients. METHODS: Guided by principles of community based participatory research (CBPR), "Evaluating Coaches of Older Adults for Cancer Care and Healthy Behaviors (COACH)" is a community-based randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a trained participant-designated coach (support person or care giver) in navigating cancer-screening for older African American adults, 50-74 years old. Participants are randomly assigned as dyads (participant+coach pair) to receiving either printed educational materials only (PEM--control group) or educational materials plus coach training (COACH--intervention group). We defined a coach as family member, friend, or other lay support person designated by the older adult. The coach training is designed as a one-time, 35- to 40-minute training consisting of: 1) a didactic session that covers the role of the coach, basic facts about colorectal, breast and cervical cancers (including risk factors, signs and symptoms and screening modalities), engaging the healthcare provider in cancer screening, insurance coverage for screening, and related healthcare issues, 2) three video skits addressing misconceptions about and planning for cancer screening, and 3) an interactive role-play session with the trainer to reinforce and practice strategies for encouraging the participant to get screened. The primary study outcome is the difference in the proportion of participants completing at least one of the recommended screenings (for breast, cervix or colorectal cancer) between the control and intervention groups. DISCUSSION: Building on trusted patient contacts to encourage cancer screening, COACH is a highly sustainable intervention in a high-risk population. It has the potential to minimize the effect of mistrust of the medical establishment on screening behaviors by mobilizing participants' existing support networks. If effective, the intervention could have a high impact on health care disparities research across multiple diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01613430 ). Registered June 5, 2012.