Abstract B13: An evaluation of a multisite national cancer community-based participatory research initiative to address health disparities
Authors: Foster-Bey John , Disney Lynn D. , Jeffries Tiffani , Salazar Marcia , Willis Timothy J. 
Published: December 2010

Disparities in cancer incidence and mortality have been well documented in low-income and minority racial and ethnic populations. While the reasons for these disparities are varied and often poorly understood, the National Cancer Institute's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) began an effort to learn more about how to reduce these disparities by providing funding to cancer research institutions to develop partnerships between cancer researchers and communities experiencing disparities through a new program: the Community Networks Program (CNP). The purpose of the CNP is to reduce cancer disparities in racial/ethnic minorities and underserved populations by increasing access to and use of beneficial biomedical procedures in primary and secondary prevention and to develop a cadre of well-trained researchers who will continue to reduce disparities in communities. The underlying scientific approach being used is Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR).

Twenty-five (25) cancer research institutions were awarded funding for five years to develop and implement a program that: 1) forms sustainable community-researcher partnerships, 2) increases the utilization of beneficial cancer health interventions, 3) trains junior researchers in CBPR and cancer health disparities research, and, 4) disseminates research findings through academic and non-academic publications.

CSR Incorporated (CSR) was contracted by CRCHD to conduct an evaluation of the CNP program. For several reasons, this evaluation is complex: First, each CNP grantee serves a different racial/ethnic community or underserved population. Second, the geographic area served by each CNP grantee ranged from small, well-circumscribed areas to large areas covering multiple states. Third, eleven of these sites had previously received CRCHD funding to pursue a similar set of goals under the Special Population Networks for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training (SPN) initiative, and as a result, had something of a head start.

In response to the complexities of the CNP design, CSR developed a three-phase evaluation strategy that was flexible, used multiple methods, and incorporated elements of CBPR. Prior to program implementation, CSR proposed logic models for each phase of the CNP. After the evaluation began they collaborated with stakeholders from CRCHD and the CNP grantees to revise the initial models and analytic plans. The logic models and analytical plans were used to operationalize each program's theoretical and conceptual underpinnings by developing core data elements that would be collected from each of the grantees. The grantee data were collected using a Web-based data collection instrument that was designed by CSR. Using data collected from grantees, CSR produced four annual evaluation reports that provided an aggregate analysis of the progress of the CNP in achieving its short-term and long-term goals. This evaluation is in its fifth and final year of data collection and will culminate in a final report that assesses the degree to which the CNP achieved its goals, and whether the community partnerships that were formed during the initiative are sustainable after CRCHD funding ends. This session will discuss the issues surrounding the evaluation and will present some of the data collected from the CNPs.

Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010;19(10 Suppl):B13.