CELL Series: The Mountain West Community Health Assessment Survey

A first-ever survey conducted by Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah researchers reveals that residents in frontier areas of the Mountain West face significant barriers to health care. The Community Health Assessment Survey (CHAS) is the first of its kind to focus solely on patients in rural and frontier areas. Rural counties have fewer than 100 people per square mile while frontier areas have seven or fewer per square mile. The team, led by Tracy Onega, PhD, senior director of population sciences at Huntsman Cancer Institute, and professor of population sciences, found that most people living in rural and frontier counties know little to nothing about cancer clinical trials, considered to be the standard of cancer care by the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

Learn more about what the CHAS revealed, including Nevada-specific data, from Huntsman Cancer Institute's Bailee Daniels, MS, CCRC, a senior manager for Population Sciences and Community Outreach & Engagement.