Native People for Cancer Control: Overview and Updates Stay in the circle of life…

Purpose  Native People for Cancer Control is a Community Networks Program that aims to reduce cancer disparities through community awareness, education, research, and support in a region with one of the highest proportion of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the nation.

Goals Cancer is the second most common cause of death among American Indians and the leading cause of death among Alaska Natives. Cancer screening tests, high quality health care, and cancer clinical trials are often not available to tribal communities. As a result, American Indians and Alaska Natives have the poorest survival from cancer of all minority groups. Our goals are  To increase how much American Indians and Alaska Natives know about cancer  To reduce the gap between American Indians and Alaska Natives and other groups in cancer screening, diagnosis, and care  To improve the results of cancer treatment in American Indians and Alaska Natives  To improve working relationship between tribes and researchers

Organization of Activities  Community Core: increase cancer education activities among urban and rural Native people  Training Core: build the capacity of tribal colleges and universities to become partners in research and dissemination efforts to address important questions regarding cancer  Training Core: enhance cancer training opportunities for Native researchers  Research Core: conduct community-based research on access to care, health promotion, and disease prevention pertaining to cancer  Goal: Reduce cancer-related health disparities by increasing access to, and use of, interventions in Native populations, and evaluate effort

Who will help achieve these goals?  Dedra Buchwald, Principal Investigator  John Simmons (Nisqually), Youth and Outreach Consultant  Donna LaVallie (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), Program Faculty  Rose James (Lummi), Program Faculty  Rosemary Gibbons (White Mountain Apache), Investigator  Steve Charles (Haida/Tlingit), Research and Student Coordinator  Debra Sprague, Research and Editing Assistant  Andy Bogart, Biostatistian  Dakotah Lane (Lummi), Research Assistant  Ryan Morigeau (Flathead), Research Assistant  Staff, Spirit of Eagles, Cancer Information Service

Who will help achieve these goals?  Cara Towle, Telehealth Implementation Liaison  Roy Colven, Project Director  HollyAnna Pinkham (Yakama), Washington Outreach  Lisa Thomas (Tlingit), Alaska Outreach  Rande Gray, Technical Specialist  Deborah Friedman, Consultant, Cancer Survivor Care  Fransing Daisy (Cree), Mental Health Consultant  Ron Whitener (Squaxin Island), Legal Consultant  Anjana Kundu, Pain Consultant  Randy Curtis, End of Life Consultant  George Guilmet, Program Evaluator

Dedra Buchwald, John Simmons, Donna LaVallie

Steve Charles, Debra Sprague, Andy Bogart

HollyAnna Pinkham, Rose James

Dakotah Lane, Ryan Morigeau

Tribal agencies and communities in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota Who do we support?

How many tribes and Alaska villages are in our region?  67 tribes in Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, North Dakota and South Dakota  11 tribes and 233 villages in Alaska  About 400,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives live in our 8 state region  The 8 states represent ¼ of the land mass of the United States  The 8 states are largely rural with several large urban areas (e.g., 35,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives live in the Puget Sound area)

Who do we work with?  Tribal Councils  Tribal organizations  Tribal health clinics  Urban Indian Health Care facilities, e.g. Alaska Native Medical Center, Seattle Indian Health Board  Cancer treatment facilities  Cancer Information Service  Washington State Comprehensive Cancer Control Steering Committee

Who do we work with?  Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium  Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network  Black Hills Center for American Indian Health  Montana  Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council  Seattle Indian Health Board  University of North Dakota School of Medicine Center for Rural Health  University of South Dakota School of Medicine  Northwest Indian College  National Cancer Institute

SPIPA Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Advisory Board

Organization of Activities  Community Core: increase cancer education activities among urban and rural Native people  Training Core: build the capacity of tribal colleges and universities to become partners in research and dissemination efforts to address important questions regarding cancer  Training Core: enhance cancer training opportunities for Native researchers  Research Core: conduct community-based research on access to care, health promotion, and disease prevention pertaining to cancer  Goal: Reduce cancer-related health disparities by increasing access to, and use of, interventions in Native populations, and evaluate effort

Native People for Cancer Control: Community Core  Co-Leaders: Deborah Bowen, Ph.D. and Walt Hollow, M.D. (Assiniboine/Sioux)  Activity 1: Community outreach and dissemination of existing programs and materials  Activity 2: Technical assistance and program development, e.g., cancer educational materials  Activity 3: Educate American Indian and Alaska Native health professionals

Native People for Cancer Control: Training Core  Co-Leaders: Scott Ramsey, M.D. and Jeff Henderson, M.D. (Cheyenne River Sioux)  Activity 1: Build capacity of tribal colleges and universities, e.g., fund pilot projects, summer internships  Activity 2: Support activities to train researchers for non-doctoral level professionals and post-doctoral American Indian or Alaska Native professionals, e.g., Native Investigator Career Development Program

Native People for Cancer Control: Research Core  Co-Leaders: Dedra Buchwald, M.D. and Bonnie Duran, Ph.D. (Opelousas/Coushatta)  Project 1  Test a smoking cessation program among American Indian youth in 2 urban sites  Project 2  Assess and improve screening for cervical cancer in 2 American Indian communities  Describe how often human papilloma virus infection occurs and if it is linked to risk factors for cervical cancer (e.g., smoking)

Native People for Cancer Control: Research Core  Project 3  Determine the factors that might influence a person’s participation in a cancer clinical trial  Compare different numerical and visual ways of presenting information to determine which methods best convey information on cancer  Project 4 – Link the Washington SEER with IHS records to identify Native persons diagnosed with breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer – determine the true incidence of these 3 cancers among American Indians and Alaska Natives

Native People for Cancer Control: Art for Cancer  Leader: Steve Charles; Artists: Chholing Taha, Roger Fernandes; Ryan Morigeau Purpose is to raise cancer awareness and increase cancer prevention activities among Native people The Art for Cancer program has  Produced educational posters on the program and specific cancers  Published brochures for example, “What Are Clinical Trials?”  Designed our new logo Stay in the circle of life…

Art for Cancer Posters Contact us at for more informationwww.uwccer.org

Native People for Cancer Control March 2006 Conference What happened after the last conference?  Established new collaborations  Had 5 new grants funded  Funded 10 Community Grants  Enhanced existing relationships  Developed a model for short term training of junior investigators  Gained knowledge and heard about tribal needs And reaffirmed…..

The Importance of Culture Tom Torlino (Navajo) as he appeared upon arrival to the Carlisle Indian School, October 21, 1882 Tom Torlino (Navajo) 3 years later Photos from: