Cancer Implementation Science
A research program focused on applying implementation science to cancer prevention and control. Our goal is to support communities in Massachusetts in developing sustainable strategies and partnerships to make evidence-based cancer control more accessible.
Key Research – Current
The Community Gateway to Health Study
Project Leads: Bekka Lee and Cristina Huebner Torres
The Gateway to Health Study (a project of Mass-ACCERT) helps community health centers improve breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening and tobacco treatment while also encouraging patients to stay connected to their communities. The study aims to investigate the impact of a multi-level approach targeting ways in which social determinants impact cancer control outcomes in the health care delivery system and in the community. The study is currently ongoing and is being led by a partnership between Harvard Chan and Caring Health Center, a community health center in Springfield, MA. This study includes a partnership with Union Capital, a nonprofit that offers small rewards to encourage civic participation and resource-sharing, hosts networking nights, and provides leadership opportunities.
What we’re doing:
- Closing cancer screening and tobacco treatment gaps
- Working with clinical champions and quality improvement staff to optimize workflows and use of population management tools to improve breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening and tobacco treatment.
- Strengthening patient digital access and navigation
- Training navigators to connect patients with digital resources.
- Building community connection and social capital
- Referring patients to Union Capital as part of social needs screening.
- Supporting patients’ learning and connections via network nights hosted by health center Union Capital Coordinator.
- Using a multilingual app to share information, including cancer prevention resources.
How it works:
The Gateway to Health Study uses a randomized, step-by-step rollout to test the impact of a multilevel intervention at health centers across Massachusetts.
- Six health centers implement the 1-year intervention on a rolling basis starting in Spring 2026.
- Clinical champions and quality improvement staff meet with the cancer screening and tobacco treatment research team to plan implementation approach on a biweekly basis.
- Navigators participate in comprehensive training to support digital access and literacy.
- Health center staff that deliver social needs screening refer patients to Union Capital.
- Union Capital Coordinator hosts network nights.
- EHR data will be used to measure cancer screening rates and tobacco treatment delivery.
- Health center staff will complete brief surveys at baseline and follow-up to share perspective of the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention, their health center context, and engagement.
- Health center and community partner staff will participate in one-on-one interviews to explore successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
Six comparison health centers share data for 2026-2028 to serve as a control group for analysis. They will be offered the same cancer screening, tobacco, treatment, and digital navigation tools at the end of the study.
Download a summary of the Gateway to Health Study:
Community Advisory Boards for Sustained CHC-Community Connections
Project Leads: Bekka Lee and Leslie Salas Karnes
The first Community Responsive Pilot Project through Mass-ACCERT provides community health centers with technical assistance and two online trainings to support community advisory board (CAB) development. This pilot is being conducted at intervention sites in the Gateway to Health Study. As part of the pilot, the Mass-ACCERT team conducted interviews to understand how community health centers’ past experience implementing CABs and community partnerships on cancer and social determinants of health. The pilot also established a Learning Community at the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers to share findings surrounding CAB formation across health centers. Data will be collected one year after CAB formation to assess engagement among members.
This study is focused on identifying patient-level, community health center (CHC) level, and outer setting contextual factors associated with tobacco cessation treatment delivery in health centers overall as well as specifically for patients who seek behavioral health care. The study uses mixed methods to identify barriers and facilitators to tobacco cessation treatment through qualitative interviews with patients and providers and to map implementation strategies to modifiable targets.