Current Projects of Native People for Cancer Control
In addition to the projects described below, the Center also supports the development of new ideas for pilot projects in conjunction with American Indian and Alaska Native investigators, trainees, and communities. Through the Developmental Research Program, the Center helps these projects mature. New pilot projects will be included on this page as they are formalized.
Administrative Unit
The diversity of the projects and geographic locations of the Center’s components requires coordinated planning of activities and communications. The Administrative Unit plays a crucial role in bringing together faculty, representatives of American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and community members. The Unit fulfills its role by planning meetings, arranging travel, organizing teleconferences, and facilitating discussions and collaborations between individuals, departments, and institutions. These efforts are needed to manage our ambitious agenda in community outreach, training, and research. The Administrative Unit is led by Dr. Buchwald.
Community Core
The community core is designed to increase cancer education activities among urban and rural American Indians and Alaska Natives. The leaders of this Core are Dr. Deborah Bowen from the University of Washington and Dr. Walt Hollow (Assiniboine Lakota), Founder of the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Native American Center for Excellence. These activities include distributing printed materials on cancer prevention, increasing the use of electronic materials such as Internet-based services and communications, coordinating community-based cancer prevention activities through the Partnership program, and supporting recruitment to clinical trials and provider education for diagnosed patients. We have developed American Indian and Alaska Native-specific materials, and we will work with collaborators to improve the quality of their standard services to our populations. The Community Core has compiled a list of organizations that provide cancer information, education, support, and resources for American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
Click here for more information.
Training Core
The two goals of the Training Core are
- To build the capacity of tribal colleges and universities to become partners, and eventually leaders, of investigative and dissemination efforts that address questions of importance regarding cancer in their communities
- To enhance cancer training opportunities for American Indian and Alaska Native researchers.
The co-leaders of the Training Core are Dr. Scott Ramsey of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Dr. Jeff Henderson (Cheyenne River Sioux) of the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Research Core
The aim of the Research Core is to conduct community-based research into access to care, health promotion, and disease prevention activities targeting key cancer disparities in American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Research Core is led by Dr. Buchwald and Dr. Francine Romero of the Northern Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center. Our overall plan is to conduct research at multiple levels, depending on the current resources available to a given region and the needs within each region, as identified by scientists and community members. Additionally, we will conduct research into all of our educational and intervention activities, as well as four specific research projects. These projects are outlined below.
Tobacco Reduction Among Indian Youth
This project is designed to test the short-term efficacy of an adapted Web-based and youth-focused tobacco control program (SmokingZine) appropriate for implementation among American Indian and Alaska Native youth in two different populations: urban Indian youth from the Seattle Indian Health Board and youth living in a tribal setting in Rapid City, South Dakota. Participants will be randomly assigned either to immediate Web-based exposure or delayed exposure, and will complete a survey before and after participation in the program. The investigators for the project are Dr. Deborah Bowen of University of Washington and Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson (Navajo) of the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health.
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in Lakota and White Women: Epidemiology and Risk Factors
This project is designed to continue the HPV research already being conducted in South Dakota, to expand to another American Indian population, and to compare the findings to those from a group of White women living in the same geographical location. The participants will undergo a Pap smear that will be used for HPV testing, and they will complete an epidemiological survey to assess other known risk factors for cervical cancer. The survey design will be based on focus groups. The investigators for this project are Drs. Maria Bell, Sarah Patrick, and Delf Schmidt-Grimminger from the University of South Dakota.
Participation in Cancer Trials, Numeracy, and Risk Assessment
This project is designed to assess factors that affect risk perception as related to participation in clinical trials. One such factor is numeracy or the ability to read and use numerical concepts, and thus to perform basic probability calculations. Procedures include focus groups and other qualitative research techniques to develop and refine vignettes about cancer trial participation with two partner communities, the Lummi Nation and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Focus groups will be used to modify the instruments to assess numeracy; the ability to ascertain risk and risk presentation; and randomization. The final survey will be administered to students at the main and branch campuses of the Northwest Indian College serving the North Puget Sound Coast Salish Tribes and the South Puget Sound Coast Salish Tribes. The investigators are Dr. Dedra Buchwald and Dr. William Freeman, Director of the Tribal Community Health Programs and Human Protections Administrator, NWIC, Lummi Reservation.
Use of Administrative and Large Databases to Evaluate Cancer Epidemiology and Screening
One of the primary long-term goals of Native People for Cancer Control is to improve compliance with cancer screening, and correspondingly to reduce the incidence of cancer, especially cancer diagnosed at advanced stages. To track these outcomes, we will build a comprehensive resource--Indian Health Service health care claims linked to state and federal cancer registries--to examine screening behavior and cancer diagnoses within American Indian and Alaska Native populations. This project will focus on screening and incidence for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. The investigators are Dr. Scott Ramsey from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Ann Lanier from the Alaska Tumor Registry, and Drs. Leander MacDonald (Dakota) and Kyle Muus from the North Dakota State Cancer Registry.
An Innovative and Interactive Supplemental Tobacco Curriculum for Native Youth
This pilot project, funded by the National Cancer Institute, focuses on developing a school-based program to reduce the relatively high smoking rates of Native American youth in Washington State. Project Director Rosemary Gibbons from the Native Voices documentary film group at the University of Washington and Dr. Dedra Buchwald are designing and piloting an interactive, video-based, seventh-grade curriculum for use in a school district in south central
View An Innovative and Interactive Supplemental Tobacco Curriculum for Native Youth Abstract.
Assessment of Attitudes Towards Mammography Among Older AI/AN Women
The purpose of this pilot project is to investigate why older American Indian and Alaska Native women, despite high breast cancer mortality rates, do not take advantage of free breast cancer early screening services provided to many tribal communities. With funding from the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Rose James, in collaboration with Dr. Dedra Buchwald, will use quantitative techniques to gather information on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mammography and breast cancer screening in two groups: American Indian and Alaska Native women 50 and over, and the staff of 13 tribal breast and cervical cancer prevention programs. Results will be used to design more effective outreach and intervention programs that will increase mammography screening among older women and reduce American Indian and Alaska Native breast cancer mortality.
View Assessment of Attitudes Towards Mammography Among Older AI/AN Women Abstract.
