VIDEO: Expanding insurance, access to care ‘vital to decreasing’ CRC screening disparities
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March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; in the latest installment of our diversity, equity and inclusion video series with ASGE, Pegah Hosseini-Carroll, MD, proposed strategies for mitigating disparities in CRC screening.
“The number of deaths attributable to colorectal cancer has been declining over decades thanks to screening measures,” Hosseini-Carroll, associate professor of medicine and program director for GI fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and member of the ASGE DEI sub-committee, said. “However, only half of the eligible U.S. population has been screened according to guidelines.”
She continued: “Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to develop and die from colon cancer compared to the U.S. general population; disparities in colon cancer screening are one of the major driving forces behind the differences in incidence and mortality.”
According to Hosseini-Carroll, there are many ways the medical community can help to mitigate these disparities. The “most important” is through physician-recommended colon cancer screening or stool-based screening when needed.
Additional strategies include improving culturally competent care, increasing the number of minority care providers in the workforce and having educational materials targeted to the appropriate patient literacy level.
“On a more systemic level, increasing access to health care and expanding insurance are vital to decreasing colon cancer screening disparities,” she said.
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