Healthy People Consortium Meeting
"Implementing Healthy People 2010"
November 11, 2000
Summary of Breakout Group Discussion Concerning:
Cancer
As part of the Healthy People Consortium meeting the breakout groups were asked to discuss six questions regarding implementation of Healthy People 2010 objectives. The Cancer
focus area meeting began with introductions of the participants, a brief overview of the Cancer objectives and how they were derived, and finally, the goals for the day's discussion. The discussions centered on the questions provided by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Below is an overview of the responses to each of the six questions.
1. What does implementing Healthy People 2010 mean to you?
For the most part, the group thought of Healthy People 2010 as a mechanism to use in grant applications to help establish/maintain the case for community cancer programs and developing cancer centers in rural areas to provide access to care. This was thought to be important because there is a great need for provider education, specific prevention and early detection of cancer interventions, and an opportunity for national, State, and local comprehensive cancer control based on partnerships.
2. How do you suggest we work with local community groups in implementing the Healthy People 2010 objectives?
Overall, the participants thought that a key component to helping to eliminate disparities in cancer would involve bringing in community groups from the beginning of any planning process. The planning process should involve public, private, and nonprofit organizations and should look at barriers as well as assets. Prior to implementing an intervention, the group felt that a comprehensive community needs assessment should be conducted to identify/monitor any gaps in services and address disparities within disparities, and that each community should have a comprehensive plan to make sure that all needs are met. Additionally, the group thought that these issues can be addressed in research/grant applications and that the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) model may be an alternative process to use because of the multiple agency collaboration requirements.
3. What are the challenges/barriers to meeting the Healthy People 2010 objectives? And how do you suggest we work to overcome them?
The group identified four main barriers to helping to eliminate disparities: institutional racism, lack of data, the inability to identify gaps, and resource issues related to grant cycles. To alleviate some of these issues, the group recommended developing community comprehensive cancer control plans that involve all sectors (community, private, nonprofit, government, etc.). They indicated that developing public and provider education that is culturally appropriate is a key component to eliminating barriers. Suggestions on overcoming funding obstacles included providing education on grant mechanisms or simplifying the funding cycles to a calendar year versus a fiscal year.
4. What can we do to support the elimination of health disparities in cancer among racial and ethnic population groups?
The group indicated that there needs to be more information about the objectives and recommended that the Government should provide more conference grants as a means of ensuring that Healthy People is included in more conference agendas. They also expressed concerns over the need to use the comprehensive planning process to be able to monitor gaps in service in the community as a whole.
5. How do we measure progress of Healthy People 2010 in the future? And what is progress?
First and foremost, the group thought that in order to measure progress that we needed to know what we had accomplished with Healthy People 2000 objectives. They wanted to see a continuous feedback process so that Healthy People 2010 could build upon the successes of past accomplishments. Other suggestions on how to measure progress included using quality-of-life measures, trips to the emergency
room department, and the need for State-specific data.
6. How can we work more effectively with the media in implementing the Healthy People 2010 objectives?
Many from the group thought that communication is key to improving the visibility of Healthy People 2010. Communication should involve the media, as well as working within our own organizations. Suggestions included providing media contacts with Healthy People 2010 objectives, trying to get Healthy People 2010 articles placed in popular magazines, professional journals, and /or newsletters.
Participant List
Karen Richard - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Facilitator)
Bruce Black - American Cancer Society (Recorder)
Maria Canto - National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
Vilma Cokkinidos - American Cancer Society
Alfred Granados - Region IX
Rodney Hood - National Medical Association
Elizabeth Jackson - National Center for Health Statistics
Pamela Jackson - Intercultural Cancer Council
Richard Klein - National Center for Health Statistics
Norma Sorenson - Carson-Tahoe Hospital
Jennifer Weiss - West Virginia Department of Health