Alabama Awareness, Screening & Education (ALCASE) Project

As manager of our ALCASE project, Kathy Levy leads a trailblazing program dedicated to changing health outcomes in seven largely rural, primarily underserved, predominately Black counties in Alabama. ALCASE, a joint project between the GO2 for Lung Cancer and the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, reaches an at-risk, vulnerable population with higher smoking rates and greater than average lung cancer mortality.

Growing up in rural Alabama, Levy knows first-hand the need to reduce health disparities in underserved communities. The ALCASE program utilizes Levy, County Coordinators, and nearly 200 volunteer Community Health Advisors (CHAs) to reach individuals at risk for lung cancer.

Kathy Levy, ALCASE Project Manager at GO2 for Lung Cancer

“I work closely with UAB staff to oversee ALCASE and travel to counties to aid County Coordinators who help clients navigate lung cancer screening,” says Levy, a resident of Choctaw, one of the counties served. “To work in these areas, you must show love and concern to the people because they tend to shy away from strangers. I attend awareness events, distribute lung cancer materials, and speak about the project.”

Strong interpersonal skills are needed by the County Coordinators. Levy explains, “As a coordinator, you may have to visit areas you might not be accustomed to, including churches, barber shops, and other community gathering places. A coordinator must be open minded and able to change their literacy level to whomever you are speaking with so clients understand what you are relaying to them.” Working within communities also opens the door for continual assistance to families.

To expand access to quality screening, regional medical facilities are encouraged to join GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Screening Centers of Excellence (COE) network of 700+ sites nationwide. Levy also engages and educates the region’s primary care doctors on risk and screening criteria and conducts follow up surveys to learn more about and improve the screening experience. ALCASE also refers people who smoke to Alabama’s Smoking Cessation program that offers transportation assistance to those being screened.

ALCASE is reaching high-risk people who are willing to be screened, and the program is having a measurable impact. “It is amazing,” said Levy. “Clients are referring family members, so we are serving people beyond our targeted area.”

“The ALCASE program is the most extensive use of the community health advisor model in lung cancer screening,” says Maureen Rigney, LICSW and GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Senior Director of Support Initiatives who oversees the state-based initiative. “It was born of an earlier pilot project that provided the opportunity to engage key constituents in Alabama and allowed us to understand their priorities. The dedication to changing health outcomes throughout the state by Kathy Levy and UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center team inspires me every day.” GO2 for Lung Cancer’s future plans will leverage the lessons learned from this pilot project to model similar programs in other high risk, underserved communities across the country.

Learn more about ALCASE and the Screening Centers of Excellence on our website.