Cancer Coalition Basics: Implementation of CCC Plan Goals

This section summarizes ways that Comprehensive Cancer Control (CCC) coalitions can implement their state’s cancer control plan goals. The Nine Habits of Successful Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalitions addresses CCC priority work plans (Habit 9). It identifies the two fundamental actions that coalitions must take:

Determine cancer plan priorities to assure efforts are focused and meaningful, and
Develop work plans for priorities to ensure that work is effective and progress monitored.

To gauge your coalition’s status, begin with this assessment. The assessment focuses on:

The frequency with which CCC priorities are reviewed;
The coalition’s focus on those priorities; and
Members’ engagement in developing action plans to implement strategies.

To further your coalition’s success in implementing its plan, think about:

How your coalition prioritizes its work;
Which partnerships are most influential in successfully implementing your plan;
How your coalition tracks implementation and measures progress; and
Success factors/facilitators and barriers to implementation and tracking of your plan.

Snapshot Examples:

The Iowa Cancer Consortium partnerships are key to its success; these include programs within the Iowa Department of Public Health, the American Cancer Society, the Iowa Cancer Registry, health care systems and health care providers, and members of diverse communities across the state.
The Consortium leadership, staff, and members revised the Iowa Cancer Plan (2018-2022) and identified five implementation priorities (prevention, screening, treatment, quality of life, and health equity) and 15 goals.
To monitor progress, the Consortium’s Data & Evaluation Committee, which includes membership from the Iowa Cancer Registry, is developing an evaluation plan that will involve tracking key data targets in the Iowa Cancer Plan.
The Iowa Cancer Consortium maintains a listing of work that is being done in support of the Iowa Cancer Plan.

Kansas Cancer Partnership (KCP) is an inclusive coalition that welcomes new members who want to take an active role in working on the goals, objectives and strategies in the Kansas Cancer Prevention and Control Plan (2017-2022).
Coalition members vote on state priorities, and regional coalitions conduct strategic planning to select locally relevant priorities and design interventions specific to the unique characteristics of their regions.
Implementation projects have process measures and key indicators of success that are closely monitored.
Shared board members with the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition and Immunize Kansas Coalition collaborate with the KCP to work on state plan objectives related to tobacco use and HPV immunization, respectively.

The Kentucky Cancer Consortium maintains a strong working relationship with the state’s Cancer Registry as well as Kentucky’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Program, in order to compile and analyze timely and accurate cancer surveillance data.
Through three action-oriented workgroups, the Consortium chooses evidence-based strategies from the cancer plan for implementation and facilitates an online survey of members as the final step in determining implementation priorities.
The Consortium works to ensure that all Cancer Action Plan objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.), most frequently utilizing available Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Registry data to measure progress.
Essential to implementation efforts are partners that can compile and analyze data, those with frontline community staff statewide, non-profits, health plans, academic medical centers, universities, and organizations that are able to conduct direct lobbying and advocacy.

Montana Cancer Coalition (MTCC) partners working together to address the cancer burden in Montana include hospital systems, cancer care focused non-profit organizations, local health departments, tribal health organizations and the state of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Chronic Disease Bureau.
To accomplish CCC plan goals, seven MTCC implementation teams, in conjunction with steering committee leadership, annually evaluate progress on priority objectives and identify priorities for the upcoming year.
Implementation progress is monitored through submission of monthly reports by implementation teams, as well as through periodic feedback from the MTCC Steering Committee.
To communicate five-year plan progress, a report is developed and presented at the MTCC annual spring statewide meeting, published on the MTCC site, as well as communicated through the CCC work plan report submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Members of Mountains of Hope, the West Virginia Cancer Coalition, include CDC-funded, state cancer prevention and control programs; representatives of advocacy and prevention organizations; academic institutions; individual community activists; Commission on Cancer-accredited cancer centers; hospice and palliative care organizations; health statistics organizations; and others.
Coalition members vote every two years to select priority aims from the WV Cancer Plan (2016-2020), which are derived from evidence-based strategies.
The coalition uses the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System and the West Virginia Health Statistics Center to track its successes.
The Coalition works to overcome barriers such as budget cuts, rurality of the state, and health disparities.

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Montana

West Virginia