CPSTF Recommends Interventions that Engage Community Health Workers to Increase Cancer Screening

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends interventions that engage community health workers to increase screening for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer. Systematic reviews of all available evidence reported effectiveness for interventions engaging community health workers independently or as part of a team.

Systematic reviews of economic evidence showed these interventions were cost-effective for cervical and colorectal cancer. There was not enough evidence to determine cost-effectiveness for breast cancer interventions.

These interventions typically are implemented in underserved communities to improve health and can enhance health equity.

What are interventions that engage community health workers?

Interventions that engage community health workers to increase cancer screening implement one or more interventions reviewed by the CPSTF to do the following:

Increase demand for screening services using group education, one-on-one education, client reminders, or small media
Improve access to screening services by reducing structural barriers

Why is this important?

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.¹ Screening detects cancer at an earlier stage, when it is easier to treat.²
In 2016, nearly 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer were reported, and more than 4,000 women died.³ When it is found early and treated, cervical cancer is highly curable.⁴
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and in women.⁵ Screening can find precancerous polyps—abnormal growths in the colon or rectum—so they can be removed before turning into cancer. Screening also helps find colorectal cancer at an early stage, when treatment often leads to a cure.⁶

Share this information with others!

Intervention Summary—read summaries of the evidence reviews and CPSTF findings for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer.

News and Announcement—include this story in your newsletter, or share the link with colleagues.

One Pagers: Increasing Appropriate Breast Cancer Screening: Interventions Engaging Community Health Workers Increasing Appropriate Cervical Cancer Screening: Interventions Engaging Community Health Workers Increasing Appropriate Colorectal Cancer Screening: Interventions Engaging Community Health Workers

Twitter®—retweet @CPSTF messages about the new recommendation or tweet one of the following examples:

@CPSTF recommends interventions engaging community health workers to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings. https://www.thecommunityguide.org/content/engaging-community-health-workers-increase-cancer-screening-effective-and-cost-effective #works4health
@CPSTF rec features effectiveness and economic #evidence for interventions engaging community health workers to increase #cancerscreening. https://www.thecommunityguide.org/content/engaging-community-health-workers-increase-cancer-screening-effective-and-cost-effective

We encourage you to share these materials with your colleagues and constituents. If you do, please e-mail us at communityguide@cdc.gov with audience information (e.g., who, approximate size), and if possible, a copy of/link to your communication materials. As always, we appreciate your interest and support, The Community Guide

References

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Basic Information About Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer. Atlanta (GA): 2019. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/index.htm .

²Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What Is Breast Cancer Screening? Atlanta (GA): 2018. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/screen¬ing.htm.

³U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool, based on November 2018 submission data (1999-2016): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; June 2019. Retrieved from: www.cdc.gov/cancer/dataviz.

⁴Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cervical Cancer: Basic Facts on Screening and the Pap Test. Atlanta (GA): 2003. Retrieved from: www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/pdf/cc_basic.pdf.

⁵Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Colorectal Cancer Statistics. Atlanta (GA): 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/statistics/

⁶Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign. Atlanta (GA): 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/sfl/