Colon Cancer Project (GI SPORE Alliance) (RPA Pilot / Seed Project)

This project will focus on an understudied topic, adherence to treatment for colorectal cancer in Appalachian Kentucky, thereby addressing significant surgical disparities. We will develop, pretest, refine and implement a pilot multi-level intervention for rural, Appalachian surgery and medical oncology practices that includes academic detailing (AD) for surgeons and patient navigation (PN) for patients and in a group randomized controlled trial, we will evaluate its effectiveness in increasing adherence with recommendation for follow-up for patients with locally advanced colon cancer (LACC). Results from this study have significant potential to increase completion of follow-up care for LACC patients by improved understanding of barriers to care and demonstrate that effective surgeon-level AD and patient-level navigation interventions can be implemented in diverse and vulnerable populations.