Description/Overview:

Despite growth in integrative oncology, many patients, caregivers, and families from minoritized and historically underserved communities continue to face barriers to access, participation, and trust. This workshop presents a practical, trust-first model developed by The Gathering Place (Cleveland, Ohio) to improve equitable engagement across the cancer continuum. To guide program redesign, The Gathering Place conducted a structured community listening tour focused on understanding how to earn trust before expanding education and supportive care. Data sources included 80 individual interviews, two focus groups, conversations with community influencers, and engagement with regional cancer partners—especially MetroHealth, the county safety-net hospital. Across participants, seven priorities consistently emerged as essential for meaningful engagement: Stability, Choice, Accessibility, Safety, Trusted Spaces, Communication & Connectedness, and Respect & Relationships. This interactive workshop will translate these findings into implementation strategies for oncology and integrative care settings. Facilitators will share how trust priorities informed outreach design, service delivery adaptations, and partnership development for diverse populations of patients, caregivers, and families. Participants will work through case-based exercises to apply the seven-priority framework in their own contexts, including approaches for culturally responsive communication, co-created program pathways, and community-embedded care options. The session will also highlight less commonly used, relationship-centered integrative strategies that support belonging, continuity, and sustained participation. Attendees will leave with a practical planning tool and a draft action roadmap to strengthen trust and equitable access in their institutions and communities. This workshop aligns with conference inclusivity goals by centering community voice, equity-informed design, and implementation approaches relevant to populations and care models that are often underrepresented in oncology programming.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe key trust barriers affecting engagement in integrative oncology among diverse and underserved populations.
• Apply a seven-priority trust framework (Stability, Choice, Accessibility, Safety, Trusted Spaces, Communication & Connectedness, Respect & Relationships) to program design.
• Develop an actionable, equity-focused implementation plan for patients, caregivers, and families in their own care settings.

Target Audience:

This workshop is designed for multidisciplinary oncology, integrative oncology, and supportive care teams—especially professionals serving diverse, minoritized, and safety-net populations—who want practical tools to build trust, improve equitable access, and implement culturally responsive supportive care.