Community Health Needs Assessment

Community Health Needs Assessment

Understanding cancer burden, awareness and needs in Colorado

To better understand how cancer affects communities across our state, and the ability of health leaders to address cancer-related needs in their communities, we conducted a  Community Health Needs Assessment across all 64 counties in Colorado — 47 rural and 17 urban.  

Using data from the Colorado Central Cancer Registry, we created a Cancer Disparity Index based on cancer incidence, mortality, and late-stage diagnoses. We identified 26 counties with higher cancer disparities and compared their cancer rates to those in lower-disparity counties and regional averages.  We summarized our findings in visual reports, shared these with community health leaders, and conducted interviews with local health officials.  Our results revealed an overall minimal awareness of the cancer burden in their counties.

This report provides a deeper look at our findings and outlines the CU Cancer Center COE’s long-term strategy to address cancer disparities in Colorado.

 Learn more about cancer trends in Colorado by visiting our Exploring Cancer in Colorado (ECCO) data platform.