Success Stories

To ensure that American Indians in Michigan were given the support and services they needed to prevent cancer and find it early, the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan started the Three Fires Cancer Consortium in 2017 with funding from CDC’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff at the Toiyabe Indian Health Project clinics focused on educating tribal members about cancer and urging them to reschedule any cancer screening tests they missed. The staff also ramped up their efforts to help tribal members who smoke commercial tobacco quit and to provide supportive services for cancer patients and their families.

The North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Control Program worked with the North Carolina Radon Program to develop a new continuing education course for real estate agents. The course explains how radon can enter a home and cause lung cancer and how homes can be tested for radon.

Four National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program sites in Kansas, Montana, Nevada, and South Carolina were funded to implement Project ECHO’s telementoring platform and engage patient navigators to enhance care for cancer survivors in rural communities.

The American Indian Cancer Foundation organized the Blue Beads campaign to increase awareness about colorectal cancer among American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

The easiest way to fight cancer is to stop it before it starts. With this idea in mind, three national networks have come together to lower people’s risk of getting cancer in seven states.

Thanks to a new voucher program, low-income residents of northern Texas can get lifesaving colorectal cancer screening tests.

Health officials on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota partnered with the Park Nicollet health care system to provide breast cancer screenings on a Mobile Mammo Bus.

Michigan’s District Health Department #10 (DHD#10) used an innovative Photovoice project created by area high school students to increase awareness of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.

American Indians and Alaska Natives are at increased risk of cancer from commercial tobacco. The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board worked with the Great Plains Area Indian Health Service to improve tobacco intervention skills among health care professionals.

The Arkansas Cancer Coalition and the Community Action Program of Central Arkansas created the Head Start Tobacco Education and Cessation Initiative to educate Head Start families about the harmful effects of tobacco use.

SelfMade Health Network created a pilot program to educate college-aged women in Washington, DC about the warning signs of gynecologic cancer. The program was based on CDC’s Inside Knowledge About Gynecologic Cancer educational campaign.

Two Tribes, a clinic, the state’s CDC-funded quitline, and Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Control Program developed a tobacco use screening, education, and referral program for youth ages 12 to 18.

The Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota reduced exposure to commercial tobacco products on some parts of the reservation thanks to new policies that restrict its use in or near Tribal buildings.

The Schenectady County Public Health Services educated county government decision-makers about the potential benefits of increasing access to recommended cancer screenings. A resolution granted Schenectady County municipal employees an additional four hours of paid leave per year for cancer screening.

Burleigh County installed a treadmill desk for sedentary employees without access to its wellness program. Their average number of steps increased from 1,634 steps per shift at baseline to 7,190 steps per shift a year after the pilot ended.

The Arkansas Cancer Coalition worked with state fair officials to develop a policy to prohibit tobacco use during the fair. Fairgrounds are now tobacco- and nicotine-free all year.

The Lake Charles City Council implemented Complete Streets, an initiative that increases access to places for physical activity by making a community more walkable or bikeable. Lake Charles now has 6 miles of bike paths, and plans to add pedestrian-friendly crosswalks and sidewalks.

The South Dakota Comprehensive Cancer Control Program and the South Dakota WorkWell Partnership worked with the City of Huron and Rapid City Aquatics to provide sun safety education and resources to 450 employees. In 2017, the program expanded to include all outdoor staff of the City of Britton.

“The Cancer You Can Prevent” campaign focuses on increasing colorectal cancer screening in African American, Native American, and Latino communities. Findings indicate that these communities are more receptive to colorectal cancer screening messages delivered by someone they know and trust.