CPCRN WORKGROUP & INTEREST GROUP PROJECTS

UPDATE [1/5/21]: Formerly  participating as an Interest Group, the Cancer & COVID-19 project has since folded under the Cancer Survivorship Workgroup, effective 2022. For more information on previous work completed by the Cancer & COVID-19 Interest Group, please refer to the description below, or contact past Co-Chairs, Drs. Betsy Risendal (betsy.risendal@cuanschutz.edu) & Cynthia Thomson (cthomson@arizona.edu).

Investigators from the Cancer & COVID-19 Interest Group published two "sister" articles focused on identifying and addressing public health and clinical challenges under COVID-19:

• "Addressing COVID-19 Using a Public Health Approach: Perspectives from the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network." The authors provide recommendations, based on their collective experience in increasing the reach and impact of cancer prevention and control programs, for national response strategies to reduce the burden of COVID-19 and related disparities.
• "Addressing Cancer Survivorship Care Under COVID-19: Perspectives from the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network." The authors also address the potential for health disparities associated with COVID-19 to amplify health concerns, with a focus on cancer survivorship care and strategies for adapting to the pandemic and optimizing clinical outcomes

Read more

The goal of the CPCRN iCollab Workgroup is to create a cross-center implementation laboratory to study the use of both quality improvement (QI) practice and implementation science (IS) to improve cancer prevention and control.  We investigate implementation support strategies used in CPCRN projects that engage community and practice partners to implement evidence-based interventions (EBIs) into routine practice.  Using case studies from Collaborating Centers, we describe how our Network is advancing: 1) best practices in implementation support across a variety of funding types, cancer programs, and settings; 2) an understanding of the mechanisms through which implementation support strategies impact outcomes; 3) approaches for better integrating QI practice and IS; and 4) health equity through engaging stakeholders in the implementation strategy development process.

For more information about the iCollab Workgroup, please contact Project Directors, Dr. Catherine Rohweder (rohweder@email.unc.edu) & Emily Bilenduke (emily.bilenduke@ucdenver.edu).

There has not been a comprehensive assessment of patient navigators in NBCCEDP or CRCCP, especially with respect to cancer screening. Most of what we know is from the perspective of grantee program administrators. This workgroup aims to characterize patient navigators affiliated with program grantees, using a mixed-methods approach and disseminate findings to stakeholders, including to the CDC, grantees, and other researchers and practitioners.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports two nationwide cancer screening programs, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) and the Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP). The CPCRN has collaborated with CDC since 2010 to measure CRCCP grantees’ use of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to promote colorectal cancer screening and evaluate program success.

Recent studies indicate that adherence to new (2009, 2012) Cervical Cancer Screening guidelines is low and patients and providers are reluctant to lengthen screening intervals. This workgroup identifies and evaluates methods to increase implementation of new and emerging guidelines – at the patient, provider, practice/organizational and policy levels. Specific aims include evaluating approaches and methods de-escalation as well as increasing adherence to guidelines and examining the current state of practice and key determinants.

The goal of this workgroup is to contribute to the science and evidence-base supporting innovative community-clinical linkages to increase Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiation and completion among adolescents and young adults. Through applied prevention research, the HPV vaccination workgroup aims to accelerate the implementation of evidence-based cancer control through the systematic identification and dissemination of best practices, community/clinical stakeholders and vaccine champions, and community-clinical linkages needed to increase HPV vaccination rates among different populations in diverse settings.

Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) continue to be underused in community programs and practices. The purpose of this Workgroup is to develop, test, and refine training and technical assistance strategies with the goal of building community planners’ capacity to select, adapt, and implement evidence-based interventions. The training and technical assistance strategies will be tested with grantees of the Knight Cancer Institute’s Community Partnership Program, through which the Knight has made a 10-year commitment to provide $1 million annually for community-based cancer prevention in Oregon. Participating CPCRN centers also will have the opportunity to test the training and technical assistance strategies locally or in other cross-center projects.

This cross-CPCRN Center initiative aims to understand barriers and facilitators faced by community health centers related to implementing both: 1) tobacco assessment and cessation assistance/referral (USPSTF grade A recommendation); and 2) low dose computed tomographic (LDCT) scan for lung cancer screening (the USPSTF grade B recommendation). The first step was to develop a survey to assess current practices, resources and potential barriers to these preventive services.