Office of Community Outreach & Engagement

Our Mission: Better Outcomes for Everybody

Health care is not experienced equally across the nation and a number of communities shoulder an unequal and unjust burden of cancer. Cancer health inequities are differences in cancer outcomes, such as screening rates, incidence (new cases), stage at diagnosis, mortality (deaths), quality of life after cancer treatment and survivorship that often place minority populations at a disadvantage. These minority groups are characterized by race, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual identity, geographic location (rurality), lower income, lower education or other characteristics. In general, people of color and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (poor, those who lack health insurance, those with limited or no access to effective health care) experience a greater cancer burden than the general U.S. population. As such, they are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer once it has reached a later stage of development. They are also more likely to die from treatable cancers that may have been detected early with screening.

Our Vision: Promote Health Equity

The Office of Community Outreach & Engagement's (OCOE) vision is to promote health equity by generating and facilitating cancer research that addresses and reduces cancer health disparities in the catchment area through authentic engagement, a community-engaged/community-based participatory research approach, and education driven by community need.

Dr. Rachel Ceballos talks with colleagues about a project

Research

Learn more about our research and how our office can support you with requests.

Photo of Outreach & Engagement panel sitting at a table fielding questions

Outreach & Engagement

Learn more about our outreach & engagement work and how our office can support you with requests.

Photo of team members talking

Our Team

Learn more about our team and internal and external advisory boards.

OCOE Strategic Goals

Strategic Goal #1

Define and continuously monitor the cancer burden and cancer inequities in the catchment area:

Conducting a continuous needs assessment will allow the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium (the Consortium) to utilize data and stakeholder feedback to inform goal setting priorities and the development of strategies to address the cancer burden in the catchment area.

Strategic Goal #2

Use an equitable, bidirectional approach to implement outreach education and programs to reduce the cancer inequities in the catchment area:

The Consortium engages populations in the catchment area in various research projects, conducts outreach and education, and involves the community in setting a research agenda.  

Use an equitable, bidirectional approach to implement inreach education and programs to reduce the cancer inequities in the catchment area:

The OCOE supports capacity-building among Consortium faculty and staff to further community engagement efforts using authentic and culturally appropriate methods.

Strategic Goal #3

Promote research relevant to the catchment area to reduce the burden of cancer, including research between catchment communities and the Consortium:

Cancer Centers occupy a unique role in their communities. They are expected to:

  1. perform research relevant to their catchment area,
  2. engage the populations within their catchment area in the research they conduct,
  3. engage catchment area residents in other Center activities with the goal to decrease cancer incidence and mortality among populations within its catchment area, including minority and underserved populations.

Strategic Goal #4

Continue and expand cancer research in high need areas beyond the catchment area.

A needs assessment (including quantitative and qualitative data) in the state of Washington will be deployed to examine the possibility of an expansion of the catchment area to the entire state.

Connect with our Community Health Education team about events, education development or other non-research support.

Success Through Community Partnerships

Successful research development and implementation through community voice is developed in partnership with OCOE's Community Action Coalition in Western Washington and Community Action Board in Eastern Washington. With these stakeholders, we strive to promote bidirectional, equitable partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs). This community engaged approach allows us to get direct input and feedback from people working in and serving populations in our catchment area. 

Pathways to Equity Symposium 2022
Pathways to Equity Symposium 2022 Keynote Speaker and Panelists

Signature Events & Programs

OCOE collaborates with partner organizations to plan and implement events and share information, strategies and resources to expand collective knowledge on the health disparities affecting different communities. 

  • Community Grants Program
  • Health & Wellness Festival
  • Pathways to Health Equity Symposium
  • Latina Health Symposium

OCOE Latest News

All news
New projects advance health equity research Two $1M grants support efforts to pinpoint novel prostate cancer biomarkers, improve clinical trial enrollment and inclusion November 28, 2023
Grants for community-driven projects help make health equity a reality in Washington Nine organizations receive support from the Community Grants Program to improve outcomes for underrepresented residents June 1, 2023
Building health equity in big ways and small Pathways to Equity Symposium highlights need for individual efforts, community collaborations and systemic change to improve outcomes May 4, 2023
2022 Year in Review A look at the most interesting and important stories of the past year December 12, 2022

Contact Us

We are available to talk about our research, engagement and outreach efforts and how we can support your work.

Mailing Address

The Office of Community Outreach and Engagement
1100 Fairview Ave. N.
Mail Stop M3-B232
Seattle, WA 98109