3 KEY QUESTIONS | Building Strong Community Partnerships to Reduce Barriers in Prostate Cancer Care
Published 9/23/2025
David Einstein, MD, medical oncologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), answers “3 Key Questions” about his work with community partners to reduce barriers to prostate cancer care. Dr. Einstein is a member of the HCC Prostate Cancer Research Program and co-leads the new HCC working group that brings together researchers and community members to address prostate cancer in Massachusetts.
Three Key Questions
1. Can you tell us a little about your role and background, and ways that you have engaged the community in your work?
I’m a medical oncologist at BIDMC and I lead our genitourinary medical oncology program. I spend my time caring for patients, teaching and mentoring oncology fellows, performing clinical and translational work, and managing program needs.
In addition to my clinical and academic work, I’ve been passionate about engaging with patients beyond the clinic. I co-advise the Boston Prostate Cancer Support Group along with Dr. Glenn Bubley. The group provides peer support and education through monthly virtual meetings and a website.
I also serve on the medical advisory committee for the Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition, where I help organize an annual patient symposium. Finally, I work with AdMeTech, an organization dedicated to addressing prostate cancer equity and access, and I’ve enjoyed collaborating on community events they co-organize with community-based organizations representing patients of color.
David Einstein, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Attending Physician, Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston Prostate Cancer Support Group
Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition
Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program
2. What are some of the biggest barriers to accessing prostate cancer care in different communities? What strategies or approaches have you found most promising in helping to reduce these barriers?
There can be all sorts of barriers to accessing care.
The patients we see in clinic are only a subset of those who may have prostate cancer, whether diagnosed or not. For those who do make it to clinic, challenges can include transportation difficulties, language barriers, needing time off work for treatments, and navigating the complicated logistics of cancer treatment. We have excellent nurse coordinators and social workers who help arrange ride services and guide patients through each complicated step. We use interpreters available by phone or iPad. We clarify which parts of treatment may affect work and frequently complete disability or leave paperwork for employers. Finally, to address financial toxicities of treatment, our pharmacists help navigate patient assistance funds for medications.
Meanwhile, we still have much work to do in reaching patients we haven’t yet seen. This is where community partnerships are especially important. I also encourage my patients to serve as mentors and advocates within their own communities, since they are often the most trusted voices.
3. We are excited to have you as part of the HCC’s new working group initiative that brings together academic and community partners to address the cancer burden in Massachusetts. As a co-leader of the Prostate Cancer Working Group, where do you see opportunities for HCC researchers and community partners to work together?
I’m excited to be on the team! We are very eager to work with community members and organizations to help translate (literally and figuratively) the messages that are important to share. We can provide updates on the latest advances in prostate cancer care and help dispel myths about prostate cancer testing and treatment, but ultimately this only matters if the messages reach the community.
One idea we have been discussing is having community members record brief video messages, especially in non-English languages spoken locally, to share information about prostate cancer screening, testing, and treatment. These could be used in primary care clinics to help simplify complicated messages and reduce the burden on primary care providers.
We also collaborated with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to provide feedback on materials for their new campaign to support providers in prostate cancer screening. We are also exploring the co-development of an educational course to support primary care providers to discuss screening with patients. Most importantly, we’re very eager to hear community members’ own ideas about what would be most helpful for them!
If you are doing collaborative work in the community and are interested in connecting with the Community Outreach and Engagement on any activities, please email Jenny Reiner (Jennifer_Reiner@dfci.harvard.edu).