U01DC021718

Using technology-enhanced approaches to advance cancer health equity among diverse Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing populations.

About 500,000 use American Sign Language (ASL). Among DDBHH people who use ASL, there are documented reports of difficulties in understanding cancer health information in print, accessing clinical services for screenings, and understanding and following treatment-related directives if the screening results warrant a cancer diagnosis. These difficulties contribute to the health inequity that we observed in the DDBHH populations.

Community health workers have proven their value with hearing patients, so it is reasonable to expect that ASL-proficient community health workers (CHW) will have the same potential to identify and resolve DDBHH people's barriers to receiving optimal care for cancer prevention and screening. We envision an ASL-proficient CHW, functioning as a cancer health navigator, who is able to promote cancer screening adherence and reduce health disparity among DDBHH people.

This research will build on the team's current NIH-funded research and recently developed technology platform, specifically SNAP (the System for Navigational Assistance for Patients), a technology to support cancer patient navigators, and REPEAT (Realizing Enhanced Practice through Adaptive Tutoring), a tool to build virtual guided practice environments for developing skills in clinical communication domains. Use of SNAP and REPEAT will provide an advanced starting point that allows us to focus on the specific training and community application needs of the DDBHH community, rather than new technology development.

Our ability to address these specific needs and to appropriately deliver and evaluate the interventions is supported by a highly interdisciplinary team, spanning expertise in DDBHH health disparity, disability studies, public health, health informatics, cultural anthropology, human factors engineering, and computer science.

Gallaudet University

TO INVESTIGATE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DEAFNESS OR DISORDERS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION IN THE AREAS OF HEARING, BALANCE, SMELL, TASTE, VOICE, SPEECH, AND LANGUAGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS (NIDCD) SUPPORTS RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING, INCLUDING INVESTIGATION INTO THE ETIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY, DETECTION, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF DISORDERS OF HEARING AND OTHER COMMUNICATION PROCESSES, PRIMARILY THROUGH THE SUPPORT OF BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH IN ANATOMY, AUDIOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOENGINEERING, EPIDEMIOLOGY, GENETICS, IMMUNOLOGY, MICROBIOLOGY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, THE NEUROSCIENCES, OTOLARYNGOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, PHARMACOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY, PSYCHOPHYSICS, SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY, AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES. THE NIDCD SUPPORTS: (1) RESEARCH INTO THE EVALUATION OF TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES USED IN DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, REHABILITATION, AND PREVENTION OF DISORDERS OF HEARING AND OTHER COMMUNICATION PROCESSES, (2) RESEARCH INTO PREVENTION AND EARLY DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF HEARING LOSS AND SPEECH, VOICE, AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS AND RESEARCH INTO PREVENTING THE EFFECTS OF SUCH DISORDERS BY MEANS OF APPROPRIATE REFERRAL AND REHABILITATION, (3) RESEARCH INTO THE DETECTION, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF DISORDERS OF HEARING AND OTHER COMMUNICATION PROCESSES IN THE ELDERLY POPULATION AND ITS REHABILITATION TO ENSURE CONTINUED EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS, AND (4) RESEARCH TO EXPAND KNOWLEDGE OF THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AGENTS THAT INFLUENCE HEARING OR OTHER COMMUNICATION PROCESSES. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO ENCOURAGE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.310 - Trans-NIH Research Support

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) [HHS - NIH]

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [HHS - NIH]

Washington, District Of Columbia 20002 United States

Single Zip Code

Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity at Minority Serving Institutions (U01 Clinical Trial Allowed) (RFA-RM-21-022)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 241% from $953,515 to $3,247,666.