Process evaluation and the national Native American "Spirit of EAGLES community network program" [U01 CA 114609]

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Judith Salmon Kaur, MD¹, Linda Burhansstipanov, DrPH², Nina Wampler, DSc, MPH³, Eduard Gamito, BS², and Paulette Baukol, MS¹. (1) Native American Programs, Spirit of EAGLES, Mayo Clinic, Medical Oncology, 200 First Street, Rochester, MN 55905, (2) Native American Cancer Research, 3022 South Nova Road, Pine, CO 80470-7830, 303-838-9359, LindaB@NatAmCancer.net, (3) Noqsi Research, Ltd., 2822 South Nova Road, Pine, CO 80470

"Spirit of EAGLES Community Network Programs" is the national Native American Community Network Program (SoE-CNP) supported by the National Cancer Institute [NCI U01 CA 114609]. This national program evolved from the Network for Cancer Control Research among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations (1989) and created national and state strategic Plans to address Native American Cancer issues, as well as a National Clearinghouse for Native cancer resources and materials (the Native CIRCLE). As a Special Populations Network [NCI U01 CA 86098], the "Spirit of EAGLES" (SoE) supported more than 20 Native community-based cancer research projects that were implemented and evaluated in Native communities from every region of the US. In addition, more than 20 Native students were supported in efforts related to science, research and medical careers. More than 100 peer reviewed publications emerged from the SoE. The ongoing SoE-CNP is even more complex and includes collaborations with Native organizations, training workshops, presentations, grant awards, student and faculty mentoring and several other components. In order to track and monitor the progress of both the five subcontracts and the many community-based efforts, an online process and outcome evaluation program was created. It is designed for each subcontractor to update their activities and products from the previous quarter using, whenever feasible, a pull-down menu of checklists. A summary of the data for the entire project is available to the NCI Project Directors for immediate access to ongoing and completed tasks. A brief overview of the evaluation processes will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to

1. Identify at least two challenges of tracking process and outcome evaluation data for the diverse SoE-CNP.
2. Describe two benefits of online evaluation tracking summaries for the SoE-CNP.
3. Describe at least three significant outcomes from the National SoE-CNP based on the evaluation data collected to date.

Keywords: American Indians, Alaska Natives

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Community Networks to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities through Education, Research and Training: Program and Evaluation Strategies

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA