Cancer screening saves lives. But many people don’t receive screening that could save their lives or don’t receive the right screening at the right time.
A team of cancer prevention researchers at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) will soon begin collaborating with other researchers on a project to create a digital Cancer Screening Change Package. The package will provide resources that health providers, public health practitioners, and community leaders can use to improve cancer screening in their communities.
The team at UNC is working on the project through a sub-contract with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, which is leading the project with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Principal Investigator Jennifer Leeman, DrPH, MPH, MDiv and Project Director Catherine Rohweder, DrPH will be leading the team at UNC. Leeman and Rohweder are investigators with the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN). CPCRN is a national network of eight cancer research centers that includes a center at HPDP, where the coordinating center is also housed.
“Contributing to the development of the Cancer Screening Change Package is a wonderful opportunity for CPCRN researchers to share what they have learned through their engaged research with a wide range of clinical, public health, and community partners,” said Leeman. “Investigators across CPCRN’s eight centers will contribute their expertise and tools they have developed to improve breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer screening.”
A cancer screening change package functions like a menu of options for practitioners. Health care professionals and the public health professionals who partner with them can select tools and resources that will help them improve screening in their particular contexts and communities.
Investigators at UNC will be conducting an environmental scan to identify existing tools and resources that can improve cancer screening and providing subject matter experts to determine which resources should be included in the package.