HRSA Cervical Cancer Learning Series

A woman sits on the examination table at the doctor's office during an exam.

Problem

Cervical cancer is a preventable and treatable disease, but differences in treatment and outcome persist.

Vaccination can significantly reduce the risk of cervical cancer, and when detected early through regular screening, it is highly treatable. Despite advancements in cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment, significant differences in screening and cervical cancer mortality rates persist.

Safety-net health care settings play a crucial role in providing cervical cancer care, encompassing prevention and screening. Therefore, it is imperative that safety-net providers adhere to evidence-based guidelines for prevention, screening, and patient management when caring for their patients.

Solution

NORC supported HRSA in developing, delivering, and evaluating a comprehensive remote learning series on the cervical cancer care continuum.

HRSA’s Division of Women’s Health established the Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative to realize the vision of the Cancer Moonshot in safety-net settings of care and respond to cervical cancer health disparities in the U.S. and its territories.

Informed by the Improving Cervical Cancer Prevention, Screening, and Management: A Toolkit to Build Provider Capacity and using the Project ECHO remote learning series model, NORC developed, delivered, and evaluated a comprehensive learning series for HRSA and other safety-net settings of care to strengthen cervical cancer prevention, screening, and management. The learning series, called CERV-Net, was implemented in two cohorts, each consisting of 11 one-hour sessions that included didactic presentations from subject matter expert speakers and case studies from participating sites, as well as opportunities for discussion.

Result

Our efforts improved the confidence and skills of health care providers in following evidence-based guidelines on cervical cancer care.

This learning series sought to fortify cervical cancer prevention, screening, and management while fostering collaboration among providers across the U.S. and its territories to support each other with their ongoing efforts of delivering cervical cancer care. NORC compiled the learning series curriculum into a content compendium so that learners can access, tailor, and implement it in their own settings of care.

NORC also conducted a process and outcome evaluation to garner key insights from the learning series. The evaluations found that participants were satisfied with the content and structure of the series and that they improved their knowledge, confidence, and commitment to improve cervical cancer care delivery. Participants also shared knowledge gained through CERV-Net with their colleagues, diffusing information throughout their systems.