Inequities in the American healthcare system cause some people with lung cancer to receive worse care than others. Patients who are members of racial, ethnic or sexual minority groups; live in rural areas and have lower income and/or insurance levels are less likely to be screened for lung cancer, have biomarker testing or benefit from precision medicine.  This often means poorer outcomes after diagnosis.

In December’s Lung Cancer Living Room conversation with Dr. Monica L. Baskin, PhD, Dr. Ibiayi Dagogo-Jack, MD and Dr. Henry J. Henderson III, PhD, we discussed nonmedical factors that contribute to these inequities in care; specifically why Black patients often have poorer outcomes in lung cancer and what solutions exist or are being explored to begin to improve on the equitable distribution of health in America.  

Speakers: Monica L. Baskin, PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Community Health Equity, Health Sciences, Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, School of Medicine, Associate Director of Community Outreach, Director of Health Equity, Hillman Cancer Center; Ibiayi Dagogo-Jack, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Thoracic Oncologist, Massachusetts General Hospital; Henry J. Henderson III, PhD- Senior Manager, Medical Science Liaison, Foundation Medicine 

Mentioned in this episode: 

  • Social determinants of health are the conditions in which a person is born, lives, learns, works and ages that impact their health outcomes and risks and contribute to health disparities and inequities.  
  • All of us, including our healthcare providers, have subconscious attitudes and stereotypes about people or groups of people that are known as our “implicit biases.” Implicit bias occurs unintentionally, but can still affect our judgments, behaviors and decisions. In the case of doctors and other healthcare providers, implicit bias can inform the way that they interact with patients. This includes excluding certain groups from shared decision making or being less likely to recommend clinical trials or other types of care to certain patients.  
  • Community Health Adviser (CHA) models provide a promising approach to reaching at -risk patients in their local communities and connecting them with quality care close to where they live and work. GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Alabama Lung Cancer Awareness, Screening, and Education project (ALCASE) – a partnership between GO2 and the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center – was one such program and provided CHAs in seven Alabama counties with the aim of educating community members about lung cancer risks and increasing access to lung cancer screening.  

Please join us for February’s Lung Cancer Living Room on February 21st at 5:30 pm PT. 

For more information on these and other GO2 for Lung Cancer programs, or for support through your diagnosis and treatment, please contact our HelpLine at 1-800-298-2436 or email support@go2.org.