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While access to healthcare information is key to keeping communities healthy, there are many barriers preventing people—particularly from underserved communities—from fully engaging with important health topics. Dr. Erica Phillips, the co-principal investigator for the and lead investigator for its study, recently teamed with , a non-profit arts organization based in New York, to launch Murals for Change. The program grew out of community feedback to address perceptions around cancer.����

Through and a of 2,500 residents about their understanding of cancer risk and obstacles to cancer prevention and control, Dr. Phillips and her team learned that one of the major barriers to effective healthcare education is how information is delivered. Survey participants suggested education go beyond traditional print collateral and formal healthcare seminars. Social media and public art were suggested as platforms to reach younger populations.��

A key finding of Dr. Phillips’s research was that hearing the word “cancer” often triggers thoughts of death. Community feedback strongly emphasized the need for earlier cancer risk reduction education, starting early with middle school students to integrate this information into the school curriculum.�� In addition to using art to communicate cancer risk awareness in a way that will connect with a younger generation, Dr. Phillips and the team hope the collaboration will also spark curiosity about science and STEM careers, particularly among middle school students.��

“Through our partnership with Dr. Phillips and the team at �ձ�avɫ��Ƭ, Groundswell's Murals For Change program is working with 18 young people to explore the root causes of the high rates of cancer in predominantly BIPOC communities. The mural they create will not just be a piece of public artwork, but a visual conversation starter that will have the power to spark change” says Yvonne Brathwaite, Executive Director of Groundswell NYC.����

Through Murals for Change, students will work with the SoCa team to research, design, and create a mural that reflects a collective mission to reduce cancer health disparities. Along the way, students will deepen their research skills by participating in community conversations, canvassing, and site visits, ultimately creating a mural that tells a powerful, research-based story. “Working with these talented students reminds us how imperative it is to intervene decades before the onset of diseases,” noted Dr. Phillips. “Yet most research investments are made on novel treatment and a smaller percentage on early detection. This may be too far downstream and hence too late.” Murals for Change is an investment in changing that trajectory.����