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NCT Number: NCT07008781

A Youth-led Intervention to Reduce Healthcare Disparities in Cancer Screening

This study engages youth as health advocates to increase cancer screening in their community. The study will evaluate the effectiveness of a youth-led intervention on cancer screening awareness in adults who are overdue for cancer screening.

Recruiting

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Key information

Conditions

Cancer Neoplasms

Age range

15 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School

New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Jeremiah Clifford

CONTACT

[email protected]

732-745-5300 ext. 4062

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Student at New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School (15-18 years) and their adult family members (18+ years old) who are NJ residents.
  • Adults must be eligible for at least one cancer screening other than skin (see below).
  • Participants must be fluent in either English or Spanish and the youth must speak the same language as the adult.

Breast: 40-74 year old women Cervical: 21-65 year old women with a cervix (have not had a hysterectomy) Colorectal: 45-75 year olds Prostate: 50 to 69 year old men (start at 45 for black males) Lung: 50 to 80 year olds who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years

Overall:

21-75 year old women 45-75 year old men 76-80 year olds who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years

Exclusion criteria

  • Students less than 15 years old.
  • Adults not eligible for a cancer screening of interest.
  • Unable to speak fluent English or Spanish.

Treatment and study plan

Youth-led cancer screening intervention

Behavioral

High school students will be trained as health advocates and then facilitate discussions about cancer screening recommendations and risk factors with adults in their community. High school students (15-18 years old) from the local community will be recruited for this study, and each student will recruit adults that they live with or are part of their community (i.e. parent) who are eligible for cancer screening. The adult plus youth dyads will all undergo the same youth-led intervention in which the youth will utilize motivational interviewing to discuss cancer screening recommendations and risk factors with their adults and help their adults enroll in cancer screening through ScreenNJ, a community organization that aims to increase cancer screening in New Jersey, reduce cancer mortality rates, and reduce disparities.

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of Cancer Screening

    Time frame: 2 weeks post-intervention

    % of adults who schedule or conduct cancer screening 2 weeks post-intervention

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Cancer Screening Knowledge- Adult

    Time frame: Baseline and 3 days later

    Change in Pre-/post-cancer screening knowledge in the adult using a 7-item assessment that the study team created. Higher scores indicate more knowledge.

  2. Change in Cancer Screening Knowledge- Youth

    Time frame: Baseline and after intervention ends

    Change in Pre-/post-cancer screening knowledge in the youth using a 7-item assessment that the study team created. Higher scores indicate more knowledge.

  3. Change in Youth Self-Efficacy

    Time frame: Baseline and after intervention ends

    Change in Pre-/post youth self-efficacy using a 10-item assessment that the study team created and includes some questions adapted from Patient Activation Measure (PAM-10). Higher scores indicate more self-efficacy.

  4. Change in Adult Activation

    Time frame: Baseline and 3 days later

    Change in Pre-/post adult activation using a 5-item assessment adapted from Patient Activation Measure (PAM-10). Higher scores indicate more activation.

  5. Proportion of adults who are overdue for each cancer type

    Time frame: Baseline

    Proportion of adults who are overdue for each cancer type

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Sara Heinert, PhD, MPH

CONTACT

[email protected]

732-235-7872

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jun 6, 2025
Registry last updated
Apr 28, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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