Rural cancer care presents unique challenges for health professionals, including limited access to oncology specialists, fragmented care coordination, and a lack of infrastructure to support evidence-based treatment and quality monitoring. These barriers contribute to significant disparities in cancer outcomes for rural populations. To address these gaps, the Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network (I-CAN) offers a novel, collaborative model that strengthens rural hospitals’ capacity to deliver high-quality cancer care. By adapting a network-based framework, I-CAN enhances multidisciplinary coordination, supports the implementation of evidence-based standards, and improves adherence to treatment quality measures. This webinar will explore the structure and function of I-CAN, including implementation strategies, evaluation methods, and early outcomes. Attendees will gain insights into how this scalable model can transform cancer care delivery in rural regions across the U.S.
This webinar addresses the NNLM initiative Environmental Determinants of Health and the NNLM goal of supporting a highly trained workforce.
Guest Speaker:
Aaron Seaman, PhD
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine- General Internal Medicine, University of Iowa
Aaron Seaman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa. He holds a primary appointment in the Carver College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine and a secondary appointment in the College of Public Health’s Department of Community and Behavioral Health. As a medical anthropologist and implementation scientist, Dr. Seaman seeks to improve cancer care and patient outcomes through research that identifies the challenges and intervention opportunities in local cancer care delivery contexts, focusing much of his work on issues related to cancer survivorship. On the Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network team, he supports the evaluation of network implementation, focusing on the processes of building the network and the impact of contextual differences across affiliate sites.
By registering for this class, you are agreeing to the NNLM Code of Conduct
- Describe the unique challenges faced by health professionals in delivering high-quality cancer care in rural settings, including limitations in infrastructure, specialist access, and care coordination.
- Explain how the Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network (I-CAN) enhances rural cancer care by supporting the implementation of evidence-based standards, improving multidisciplinary collaboration, and increasing adherence to treatment quality measures.
- Evaluate the scalability and early outcomes of the I-CAN model and its potential to improve cancer care delivery and reduce disparities in rural regions across the U.S.