Community Outreach & Patient Navigation

Our outreach programs look to combat inequality by expanding access to healthcare for our neighbors who need it most.

Community Outreach

Cleveland Clinic Cancer Community Outreach is a dedicated team with a mission to help educate and support the surrounding communities of all Cleveland Clinic hospitals and service areas. Cancer Community Outreach staff are frequently out in the community training advocates, providing educational opportunities for underserved communities, and offering cancer screening programs to those in need.

View Upcoming Community Events

A variety of events take place at Cleveland Clinic locations and within our surrounding communities for patients and community members, employees and supporters. For more information on upcoming events or to get involved, please contact 216.444.7505.

Community Programs

Cancer Community Outreach has several cancer screening programs that occur in the communities served by Cleveland Clinic. Learn more about our programs below.

SCIIT (Stop Cancer In Its Tracks)

SCIIT is a partnership between Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center and faith-based organizations to share culturally appropriate health information regarding cancer and chronic diseases within their organizations. SCIIT establishes or enhances the health ministry within your congregation by working to eliminate health disparities, while improving your organization’s health behaviors. We help to build invaluable relationships within the faith-based community and link your organization to valuable information about local cancer prevention and treatment resources.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a SCIIT partner:

Determine your organization’s key SCIIT advocates
Prepare to advocate for health awareness, disease self-management, and help your congregants to navigate the health care system by completing Cleveland Clinic’s SCIIT training program
Collaborate with Cleveland Clinic to host workshops and events that focus on cancer, health and wellness
Encourage congregants to sign up and complete cancer and other health screenings offered by Cleveland Clinic
Attend regular meetings and participate in discussions on how to continually improve cancer outcomes within the community and congregations

For more information or to get involved, contact NaSheema Anderson at Andersn1@ccf.org.

Pink & Beyond

Pink & Beyond is a women's health program that focuses on breast health and beyond. This program provides women with resources and information to increase their awareness about breast cancer, and other major health conditions through mammography screening, community education, and research. For more information or screening registration you can call 216.444.2606.

Goals of Pink & Beyond include:

Creating multiple access opportunities for women to complete mammogram screenings
Reducing barriers to screenings by providing patient navigation support and a concierge service to greet and escort women to medical appointments
Establishing trusted relationships with non-traditional patients
Serving as a catalyst in establishing preventative care
Enlisting people of influence to promote programs
Enlisting dedicated clinical staff to support screening clinics during non-traditional hours

For more information or to get involved, contact Candace Wallace at Wallacc6@ccf.org.

For Men Only

The For Men Only program is a Men’s only health and education event driven to bring awareness of prostate cancer disparities to all men. Join us for this unique event that combines onsite screenings and a “barbershop like” conversation with men around the topics of prostate cancer awareness, screening, treatment options and survivorship. This event is exclusive to men to promote a safe environment and encourage a level of accountability and dialogue that men have when in a comfortable environment.

Health screenings include:

Colorectal Cancer (FIT Test)
Prostate (PSA) Screening Registration
Total Cholesterol
Blood Sugar
Blood Pressure
BMI
Registration Form

For more information or to get involved, contact Aqeel Seals at Sealsa@ccf.org.

Get Behind Your Health

Our goal is to decrease late stage colon cancer diagnosis by increasing early detection and education. The “Get Behind Your Health” program is designed to bring awareness about preventative measures and encourage action to maintaining your colorectal health and completing your scheduled screenings. These events will also drive community engagement and aid to bridge the gap between affordable health and cancer screenings and other access to care.

For more information or to get involved, contact Aqeel Seals at Sealsa@ccf.org.

Coming Out Against Cancer

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals are considered a sexual/gender minority. Research studies demonstrate that knowledge about increased risks and need for screening is low in LGBT+ populations. We implemented a population-oriented program into our Community Outreach team in 2019 to address LGBT+ cancer disparities. We partner with LGBT+ community resources and leaders, including the Cleveland LGBT+ Community Center, Plexus LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, and Equality Ohio.

Programming includes:

Gender-affirming, culturally modest mammography clinics
Cancer disparities education at our “Cancer is a DRAG” shows, in partnership with local entertainers
Tobacco-free campaigns, including access to our tobacco cessation program
HPV Education & Vaccination Day
Skin cancer awareness & education partnerships

For more information or to get involved, contact Ty Stimpert at Stimpet@ccf.org

Comunidad Latin@ Contra el Cancer

Comunidad Latin@ Contra El Cancer is a program designed to bring education, screenings and engagement of cancer prevention and early diagnosis to our Latin@ community. We aim to bring these services to this community in a bilingual format to fully engage and reach them at their comfort level. In 2019, the Community Outreach Department embarked on the first steps to achieve this undertaking by expanding to the west side of Cleveland as well as Lorain County. To be culturally and linguistically inclusive, the team expanded by adding three team members that are both bicultural and bilingual to help with programming and navigation of patients.

The goal of this program is to reduce cancer disparities within the Latin@ community by:

Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate health education and screenings onsite as well as in community settings
Prevention of late stage diagnosis through early detection and the elimination of barriers such as financial, language, and transportation
Partnering with Latin@ community organizations to increase awareness of our services and increase partnerships and collaborations
Growth and awareness within the Latin@ community to increase the variety of screenings as well as the overall numbers of patients seen

For more information or to get involved, contact Miriam Hernandez at Hernanm5@ccf.org.

Tobacco Cessation Program

The Cleveland Clinic Smoking Cessation Program is a comprehensive, multifaceted program that can be tailored to your individual needs. We offer a variety of services designed to help you throughout the process, including office visits, virtual visits, shared medical appointments, smoking classes, our eCoach program and pharmacy consultations. The Cleveland Clinic Smoking Cessation Program is a comprehensive, multifaceted program that can be tailored to your individual needs. We offer a variety of services designed to help you throughout the process, including office visits, virtual visits, shared medical appointments, smoking classes, our eCoach program and pharmacy consultations.

For more information or to get involved: www.clevelandclinic.org/stopsmoking.

Patient Navigation

The Cleveland Clinic Cancer Community Outreach Patient Navigation Program is a resource for community partners, physicians, patients, and caregivers to provide assistance with accessing clinical services and resources offered at Cleveland Clinic and in the community. Outreach Navigation begins in the Community. Outreach Navigators will begin working with patients before screening and continue until completion of screening exams.

Outreach Patient Navigators:

Focus on providing members of the community access to care, specifically cancer screening and follow up
Attend outreach or community events to identify community members who are in need of screening or cancer follow up
Navigate patients referred by Community Partners via the Navigation Partner Referral Line
Identify and resolve barriers related to cancer screening and follow up
Accompany patients to initial appointments during screening and diagnosis (upon request)
Identify financial and/or insurance barriers, then work with the team of Financial Navigators to assist the patient
Enter the patient’s follow up information into the navigation database for follow-up of recommended future screenings (i.e. yearly, 6 months)

For more information, email us at TaussigCommOutreach@CCF.org or call 216.444.7505.

Research Education

The Community Outreach Research program was developed to educate the community on cancer clinical trials and the importance of minority participation. As the fight to cure cancer continues, clinical trials are the key to ensuring new treatments and therapies are safe and effective. It is important for members of all social and ethnic populations to participate in clinical trials. Without diverse participation, researchers are unable to conclude if a new treatment is truly effective.

The community outreach research coordinators work with both the research department and the community outreach team to answer questions on clinical trials, build trust within the community and shine a positive light on research.

The goals of the program include:

Provide the community with a positive research experience by hosting research studies in the community
Provide education on clinical trials to answer questions, dispel myths and address fears
Learn more about the communities we serve to better assess barriers to cancer screening and care
Empower community members to make informed decisions regarding clinical trial participation

For more information or to get involved, contact Kimberlee Hunt at Huntk@ccf.org.

Community Partners

The Cleveland Clinic Cancer Community Outreach Team strives to preserve our mission to decrease cancer disparities by breaking down barriers to care, improving access to care, and promoting and providing screening and prevention tools to the community. The dedication and commitment of our partners enhances the community’s ability to access affordable cancer screenings. Our partners provide access, resources, and recommendations for patients to receive cancer screenings. Through successful partnerships, cancer screening rates have increased in many of our underserved communities

We are always accepting new community partnerships that are concerned about the well-being of our communities, willing to collaborate with healthcare programming, and make real positive change throughout the Greater Cleveland area. Some examples of successful partnerships include barbershops/ beauty salons, faith-based organizations, community establishments, government leaders, and more! As a partner, we will ask you to assist with volunteers, event hosting and promotion, cancer awareness programming, speaking opportunities, and providing access to educational resources/materials.

For more information on partnership opportunities, email us at TaussigCommOutreach@CCF.org or call 216-445-6055.

Our Team