Dr Taplin on Health Care Inequities in Prostate Cancer Treatment

Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD, institute physician, chair, Executive Committee for Clinical Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses prevailing health care disparities within the treatment of patients with prostate cancer, delineating numerous impediments to equitable access of care.

Taplin spoke on this topic during a presentation at 17th Annual Interdisciplinary Prostate Cancer Congress® and Other Genitourinary Malignancies, and she highlighted she and colleagues, Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, MBA, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Adam Feldman, MD, MPH, of Massachusetts General Hospital, have pioneered the establishment of a specialized clinic dedicated to addressing these disparity challenges.

Central to the clinic's operational framework is its reliance on community engagement, substantiated by empirical evidence from prior sessions. Community health care workers play a pivotal role in facilitating patient interactions and streamlining access to health care services, particularly for patients presenting with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels or those in need of screening.

After a year of operation, the clinic has yielded promising outcomes, serving a considerable patient cohort and achieving notable rates of successful visit scheduling and cancer diagnoses among those with elevated PSA levels, Taplin says. She notes that collaborative endeavors with an array of stakeholders, including institutional partners, patient advocacy groups, and health care insurers, have been pivotal in achieving these outcomes.

Future initiatives entail tackling logistical challenges, such as transportation barriers and extending outreach efforts to vulnerable populations, notably black patients who may experience disproportionate disparities in prostate cancer care, Taplin explains. Expansion of the community health care worker network and implementation of rideshare voucher programs represent key strategies aimed at enhancing accessibility and promoting continuity of care, she continues.

Challenges encountered include fostering trust within at-risk communities and navigating turnover within the health care system. Ongoing efforts are directed toward improving follow-up appointment rates and addressing factors such as transportation and health literacy, Taplin emphasizes.

The clinic's initiatives exemplify a pragmatic approach to mitigating health care disparities in prostate cancer care, underscored by systematic community engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration. Future directions are focused on responsiveness to community needs and the expansion of effective strategies to promote equitable access to care, Taplin concludes.