Improving Health Equity and Cancer Care Quality through Tailored Navigation

In the US, the high costs of cancer care force many patients to go without basic needs like food, housing and utilities, which often leads to treatment delays and care interruptions that affect their quality of life and can lead
to worse survival. Recognizing the importance of this issue, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implemented new policies, which began in 2024, to enable health systems to begin to address patients’ social needs. The overall project goal is to guide implementation of these policies at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, taking a mixed- methods approach that uses electronic health record data and qualitative data from the lived experiences of patients and caregivers, community- based organizations, and healthcare staff. Findings from our project will help ensure equitable access to whole person care for all patients, we hope that our project will reduce cancer health disparities in patient populations with historically poor outcomes.

“This funding mechanism is a testament to Curebound’s uniqueness and importance as a major funder of cancer research, because it illustrates their willingness to support projects that may lead to groundbreaking advancements (i.e., discovery), as well as projects that focus on what’s affecting patients right now (i.e., health equity). Our team will engage with stakeholders to inform new policy options that can address inequities in cancer care and to better understand the needs and experiences of the people we serve to advance health equity in our community.” – Matthew Banegas, PhD