Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention: Outreach Strategies and Evaluation 2019–2024

Aim: The Outreach Core of the Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention (NACP) in Arizona offers an overview of strategies designed to (1) provide cancer-related education in collaboration with Native Nations and (2) train researchers working with native American communities on tribal oversight of research activities and community-oriented dissemination. Background: In the late 1990s, the National Institute of Health began to support an Outreach Core within its Center grants but provided limited guidance on expected activities and goals. NACP has been funded since 2002 and refunded to 2029. The NACP Outreach Core shares strategies implemented from 2019 to 2024. In this 5-year period, the NACP Outreach Core had four goals with the intention of increasing institutional and community capacity for cancer control activities: (1) Increase researcher, trainee and tribal communities' knowledge of native American cancer-related issues to enhance institutional and tribal capacity to design sustainable, relevant cancer research and prevention programs. (2) Provide training in research best practices when collaborating with tribal communities. (3) Facilitate community-based dissemination of NACP research results. (4) Collaborate with native American communities to develop and implement cancer-related informational activities to benefit native American communities. Methods: Goal 1 employed 3 strategies: a speakers' series, regular contribution to a week-long workshop on genomics research in Indigenous communities and development of cancer research resources for Native Nations. Goal 2 involved contributions to a university workshop on native American research protections. Goal 3 was addressed with the development and implementation of community dissemination training for NACP-funded research teams. Goal 4 focused on building relationships, by responding to Native Nations' requests to present at community conferences and cancer awareness events. Results: The Indigenous Cancer Prevention Speaker Series was implemented each quarter for 5 years. Through participation in the Summer Internship for INdigenous Peoples in Genomics, NACP provided education on the collection of biospecimens with Indigenous peoples. NACP developed and distributed cancer education resources to tribal health directors across Arizona. NACP designed and delivered virtually, in real time, the Community Dissemination and Application Training to 31 NACP-funded investigators and provided one-on-one consultation to research teams. In collaboration with providers in Native Nations, NACP developed a cancer conversation podcast series, Taking Care of Us, reaching national and international listeners. Over 5 years, NACP Outreach participated in 20 community events including cancer town halls, health fairs, radio segments, and cancer-related fun runs, reaching over 1400 community members. Conclusion: NACP Outreach Core's range of strategies provided cancer-related information to institutional scholars and tribal communities and maintained regular, reciprocal communication with Arizona Native Nations. The impact of these activities is difficult to assess and is limited to reach, that is, counts of participants, or “hits” on an online resource. These metrics demonstrate that NACP Outreach products are used but do not track impact. The ability to evaluate impact should be considered when designing outreach strategies. The Outreach Core team's regular connection with native American communities contributes to NACP's long-term partnership with Arizona Native Nations; community-university relationships are critical to ensuring receptivity and relevance of outreach activities.