Comprehensive Cancer Planning by states and tribal nations: Analysis of Five States

Purpose: Comprehensive Cancer Planning has been carried out by every state and at least seven tribal health programs using a well defined community planning process (http://cancercontrolplanet.cancer.gov/) . Such plans are publicly available via Cancer PLANET (http://cancercontrolplanet.cancer.gov/state_plans.jsp). Analyzing plans for tribes and comparing them to the states that they reside in may shed light into tribal best practices for this collaborative community based planning effort. Methods: Five states were chosen for this analysis (Alaska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota) because there existed at least one tribal plan publically available and these tribes resided in the above mentioned states. The analysis looked at the content and format of the plans and their recommendations. The composition of the boards who made up the planning groups and any mention of tribal epidemiology or unique needs was also noted. Results: Although there was some variation across states, tribal plans paralleled the states that they resided in both in content, organization and in recommendations. Patterns were found in composition of planning boards and recommendations. Some discussion will be given about the representativeness of the tribes with comprehensive cancer plans compared to the vast majority of tribes without such plans. Conclusions: Some cancer plans were better than others in mentioning or providing information on tribal needs. Possible policy and funding consequences are discussed. Future research needs to examine cancer funding to tribes by states and federal governments as well as other sources (e.g. foundations, independent funding) as they are reflected in both state and tribal cancer plans.