Using CBPR Principles in Focus Groups to Address Lung Cancer Disparities in Rural Southern Illinois

Background: Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is an effective way to identify and address health disparities within a community by involving community members in all aspects of the research process.  To address lung cancer disparities observed in the southernmost 16 Illinois counties, an academic-community partnership was established. Partners included a medical school, a state government agency, and three community partners, one of which was a network of 7 community coalitions. A steering committee with members from all partners devised the partnership’s aims and led three work groups (WGs): 1) CBPR implementation 2) data 3) lung nodule.

Methods: Using community-specific data provided by the data and lung nodule WGs, the CBPR implementation WG developed focus group questions about lung cancer disparities and smoking prevalence to engage one network coalition and obtain their perspective on these disparities and how they should be addressed.  Questions were refined following network and steering committee feedback.  The CBPR WG engaged coalition members and local healthcare providers as key informants to refer potential focus group members.

Results/Discussion: From 12/13-01/14, a total of 25 community members participated in one of three, 90 minute focus groups: 1) coalition members 2) patients and caregivers affected by lung cancer 3) health care providers.  We effectively engaged the community in the research process by involving them in research question development, focus group member identification, and focus group participation. We will use analyzed focus group results and identified themes to continue to work with the community to develop interventions to reduce these disparities.