First Year Outcomes of a Statewide Cancer Control Plan

This study was an evaluation of first year outcomes of the South Dakota Comprehensive Cancer Control (CCC) plan including: (a) the process of working together, (b) activities, and (c) progress toward achieving CCC goals. Statewide CCC consortium members are ethnically and geographically diverse. The group includes 100+ health care and allied health care providers, members of private and voluntary organizations, employees of state government and cancer survivors. Consortium members are dedicated to ensuring that all South Dakotans have access to quality cancer prevention and control information and services in order to reduce the number of new cancer cases as well as the illness, disability, and death caused by cancer and for survivors to live the best quality of life possible. In order to evaluate how the consortium partners were working together, members completed a Partnership Self-Assessment Tool available through the Center for the Advancement of Collaborative Strategies in Health. The consortium scored within the “work zone” for five of the six priority partnership domains and in the “headway zone” for one domain (use of non-financial resources). Results suggest that the partners are working together but that they could strengthen their interrelationships in order to increase the synergy related to CCC implementation. Further exploration of the partnerships was accomplished through key informant interviews and community listening groups. These conversations included consortium leaders, community members as well as community leaders who invested time in CCC activities. Strengths of the consortium and opportunities to improve the consortium were explored. Overall strengths were: (a) the relevance of the CCC plan to citizens of SD, and (b) the diversity of consortium members. Securing monetary funds or resources from the CCC program or an outside agency was a successful strategy. Theses projects aimed to implement best practices for population-focused cancer control or to identify community needs prior to project planning. Focusing consortium activities was identified as an essential opportunity to distinguish cancer control from other statewide programs (e.g., nutrition, physical activity and tobacco control). Implementation and evaluation of year two CCC efforts is underway.