Community Outreach Program

Principal Investigators: Principal Investigator: William Wiist, NAU and Francisco Garcia, UA

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

The Community Outreach Program of the Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention will partner with tribal communities using the Community-Based Participatory Research model to develop community education programs and research for primary and secondary cancer prevention that address needs and stages of readiness in three tribal communities: Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, and Tohono O’odham Nation. The Community Outreach Program and Community-Based Participatory Research model will be guided by the following hypotheses:

• A Native American tribal liaison between Native American communities and academic institution researchers will increase collaborative developments and implementation of evidence-based, culturally appropriate cancer prevention and control programs and research in Hopi, Navajo, and Tohono O’odham communities of Arizona.
• A Native American Tribal community expert network serving in the role of a community advisory board will expedite the identification of cancer program and research priorities, program planning and evaluation and the cultural adaptation of cancer prevention and control programs and research in the Hopi, Navajo, and Tohono O’odham communities of Arizona.
• Education preparation for Native American tribal communities lay health workers in how to plan, conduct and evaluate cancer prevention programs will result in an increased provision of culturally appropriate cancer education programs for their respective Hopi, Navajo, and Tohono O’odham communities of Arizona.
• Delivery of evidence-based cancer prevention focused clinical education programs designed to Indian Health Service Physicians, nurses, and health education staff of the Hopi, Navajo, and Tohono O’odham communities of Arizona will increase compliance with age-appropriate breast, cervix and colon cancer screening, and documentation of smoking cessation.

The community outreach program serves as a means for collaborating with tribal communities in establishing and conducting tribal community program and research priorities and for collaboratively providing evidence-based cancer prevention and control to tribal community and clinical settings.