Community health worker support to improve palliative and end-of-life care for African American adults with advanced cancer
Official title: Dissemination and Implementation of a Community Health Worker Intervention for Disparities in Palliative Care (DeCIDE-PC)
Funded at Wake Forest University Health Sciences · NIH-11160434 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project offers trained community health workers to help African American adults with advanced cancer access palliative and end-of-life care that matches their values and needs.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wake Forest University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winston-Salem, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2021 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $495,502 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA252101-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11160434 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are African American adults living with advanced or metastatic cancer who are receiving care at participating clinics and who want help navigating palliative, hospice, or supportive services.
✕Less likely to help
People without advanced cancer, those not receiving care at participating sites, or those who do not want outreach from a community health worker are unlikely to benefit from this project.
What this research studies
You would work with a community health worker—someone from your community trained to help patients—who joins the medical team to provide education, connect you to hospice and support services, help with advance care planning, and address cultural or practical barriers to palliative care. The team will adapt and spread this approach in clinic and community settings so more people can get these services. CHWs will do outreach, help families navigate care options, and collect information about what approaches reduce disparities. The project focuses on lowering the specific barriers African American patients face when accessing palliative care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could increase access to symptom relief, improve quality of life, and make end-of-life care more consistent with patients' wishes for African American people with advanced cancer.
How similar studies have gone: Community health worker programs have improved access and outcomes for chronic illnesses and there is growing evidence they can improve palliative and supportive care, though broad implementation for end-of-life disparities is still emerging.
Where this research is happening
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Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Winston-Salem, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Johnston, Fabian M — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Johnston, Fabian M
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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UNCOVER-PC: Helping people with advanced cancer and their families get better palliative care
A project at Emory aims to find the best ways to give palliative care early to people with advanced cancer and to understand how it helps patients and their caregivers.
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Digitally supported community workers helping HPB cancer patients receive early palliative care
A pilot program uses digital tools and community health workers to bring early palliative care and support to people with HPB cancers and their caregivers.
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ICUconnect 2: helping older ICU patients and families get better palliative care
A multi-site study will test a mobile app that helps ICU teams deliver personalized palliative care to older adults and support families.
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Caring for Older African Americans: Training Clinicians to Provide Quality End-of-Life Care
This grant aims to adapt and deliver a training program for clinicians so they can better understand and meet end-of-life care needs of older African American adults in both the South and North.
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Support-T: a mobile tool to help people with progressive pulmonary fibrosis and their caregivers get palliative care and planning
A mobile app called SUPPORT-T helps people with progressive pulmonary fibrosis and their caregivers access palliative care and plan for the future.
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Palliative care support for patients getting CAR T therapy for blood cancers
A clinician-led program designed to improve quality of life and ease the burden on patients and caregivers during and after CAR T cell therapy for blood cancers.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.