Taskforce Groups

Community Education, Prevention, and Outreach:  Improve Community Awareness, Knowledge and Behaviors regarding cancer, including prevention, and screening.

§         Conduct a community needs assessment on cancer awareness including prevalence, prevention and behavior modification for risk reduction, familiarity with screening recommendations and screening methodologies.

§         Identify primary sources of community health information; include both formal and informal information channels and comparative levels of reliance.

§         Explore information technology support for community at-large and sector-based cancer education, including strategies such as teleconferencing and online video conferencing.

Screening, Early Diagnosis, and Clinical Services:  Improve Access to Care in our rural Region with an emphasis on prevention and early detection.

§         Conduct a regional needs assessment to identify existing and planned cancer prevention, screening and treatment programs and resources throughout the region. 

§         Explore expanding the rural cancer education and screening on-line cancer resource guide, previously developed for seven rural counties in the region, for the majority of the grant region.  The on-line guide identifies and categorizes resources for cancer information, prevention, early detection, treatment and supportive care for both lay and professional audiences.

§         Identify service or access gaps and barriers to care throughout the region; develop a plan to address those needs.

§         Develop a plan to evaluate screening participation, effectiveness and outcomes for skin, breast, prostate, colorectal and oral cancers across the region.

§         Identify tools, including information technology, to promote awareness and use of regional resources for cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and use of cancer screening guidelines.

Research:  Increase regional participation in Cancer Research.

§         Identify barriers to regional participation in clinical trials; and develop strategies to overcome barriers.

§         Evaluate existing systems and explore potential enhancements for community and health professional awareness of cancer research opportunities and access.

§         Identify opportunities to increase and improve regional participation in cancer research by enlisting new investigators, including additional physician practices and developing data collection and assistance systems to best support studies in outlying communities.

§         Provide access to high quality cancer research studies through linkages with cancer research networks, NCI, private cooperative groups, pharmaceutical sponsors and academic institutions. 

§         Expand regional research participation in translational research, prevention trials, supportive care studies and early detection and diagnostic confirmation studies. Expand existing research participation with tumor banks, to provide specimens and information as appropriate.

§         Seek information technology solutions to facilitate awareness, recruitment, use of and compliance with, cancer-related protocols.

Health Professional Education:  Assess Cancer Health Professional Education needs throughout the region; especially through links with academic institutions.

§         In concert with AHEC studies, identify and define the region’s cancer education and training needs including continuing medical education and professional clinical education.

§         Support Foothills AHEC efforts through linkages with academic institutions, secondary schools, professional societies and health professional education experts in addressing regional cancer education and training needs.

§         In cooperation with Foothills AHEC, identify barriers to recruitment, retention, training and education of cancer health care professionals for initial, advanced and ongoing education.

§         Explore information technology support for professional education including strategies such as teleconferencing, online video conferencing and training programs.

§         Support awareness, promotion of cancer reporting and use of registry data through educational programs to health care professionals, especially physicians. 

Special Interest Groups

The following three Special Interest Groups span the entire enterprise.  They will work with the Coalition and Task Forces, as they develop a Regional Program of Excellence grant application, to ensure that the activities and services they propose and plan meet the following goals:

1.  Diversity & Cultural Sensitivity:  Ensure that the activities and services reflect and are sensitive to the region’s cultural diversity.

2.  Public Awareness:  Ensure that the groups identify best practices for communicating with our target audiences.

3.  Financial & Resource Support:  Assist the Coalition in identifying resources to support access to cancer education and patient care services.