Curriculum Development Using Big Data for Cancer Prevention and Control

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Abstract To reduce the burden of cancer among U.S. populations, the NCI, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other agencies rely on networks of academic, governmental, and community partners to take action in cancer control and education. The range of activities undertaken by community-based organizations (CBOs) is broad and may encompass prevention and screening; diagnosis; treatment; survivorship care; and quality of life for cancer patients and families. The success of these initiatives focuses on precise assessment of community priorities, design and implementation of strategies to address the priorities among their communities, and dissemination and evaluation of evidence-based interventions. Most communities draw from extensive publicly available national datasets that provide details to the county level in each state and serve as the basis for CBO “action plans”, to develop how health equity will be achieved and cancer disparities reduced. Accurate identification and use of national, state, and county data are vital and rely heavily on such organizational capacity in the application of large population-based datasets (Big Data). However, using and applying these large datasets and interpreting data findings are not easily accomplished by CBOs, particularly in rural settings. Currently, no curricula exist aimed at educating and supporting CBOs' engagement with Big Data for cancer program priority assessment, design, and implementation. We hypothesize that developing a unique, essential curriculum designed to train cancer CBOs in Big Data use and application for cancer programs will close this training shortfall, enhance community program quality, and improve population outcomes. To address the stated gaps in the literature and in practical tools to assist cancer CBOs, our Goal is to develop and test a curriculum specifically focused on Using Big Data for Community-Based Cancer Control and Education Programs (BigC3E). The Specific Aims are to: 1) develop a novel curriculum with high potential to improve biomedical, behavioral and/or clinical cancer education targeting members of the lay community involved in the dissemination of health information; 2) test the feasibility, acceptability, and suitability of content with stakeholder members of two large regional Cancer Coalitions in Georgia, and 3) prepare for broad dissemination of the curriculum nationwide. The proposed BigC3E curriculum, including content, delivery, and experiential, problem-based learning approach, is highly innovative and its successful implementation and dissemination would impact community-based cancer control and education programs on a major scale nationwide. Detailed curriculum development and testing methods are proposed, including a robust Evaluation Plan, in partnership with two established community cancer coalitions in Georgia, representing 68 counties and over 200 stakeholders, to contribute to the project's curriculum development, testing, and plans for dissemination. This program will provide the foundation for communities nationwide to enhance their cancer control and education work to fulfill the NCI mission of advancing and distributing scientific knowledge and improving cancer outcomes throughout the U.S.