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Bates encourages TC4 members in each region of the state to share their outreach experiences.
“If a program in East Tennessee went well, we want them to tell us what worked, what didn’t and how they publicized the event so we can share best practices.”
At the statewide level TC4 has logged a number of successful initiatives. In partnership with the Tennessee Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, TC4 established the Witness Project of Davidson County which employs breast and cervical cancer survivors to “witness” to African-American women about the importance of cancer screening. TC4 recruited participants for the national Sister Breast Cancer Study, including many African-American women who may be at high risk for an aggressive form of breast cancer.
In a project led by Jacob Weiss, a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University, the TC4 worked with other Middle Tennessee cancer hospitals, survivors and nonprofits to establish CanConnect (www.canconnect.org), a free interactive Web site that makes it easy for
cancer survivors and providers to connect online.
Coalition members are also bringing their message of
cancer prevention to the stage with “Cancer Queens! A Cancer Prevention Musical Revue,” an “edu-tainment” musical presented by Vanderbilt-Ingram’s Office of Patient and Community Education. The queens – including Bates, Chafin and six other TC4 representatives – debuted at Vanderbilt in October 2008
and have scheduled performances across the state in 2009.
Despite all of these initiatives and messages about prevention, far too many Tennesseans continue to develop cancer, which is why the TC4 includes the concept of control.
“Cancer control is a very odd term, but when we think about control, we’re talking about everything that happens to the patient from the time they have a positive screening test,” said Debra Friedman, M.D., leader of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Control and Prevention Program and director of the Cancer Survivorship program.
“Cancer control includes the original diagnosis, what kind of care the patient was offered, whether they were offered access to a clinical trial, and whether they had options about where to receive their care,” Friedman explained. “Once treatment is started, cancer control includes pain and symptom management and health-related quality of life. For those who are successfully treated, control includes navigating long-term survivorship to remain healthy, and for those who ultimately cannot be cured, it includes palliative care.”
However, access to treatment, to clinical trials and to services like palliative care may not be available in every part of the state. And each county’s cancer burden may be different. The state’s Tumor Registry, which recently achieved Gold Status from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, has complete data on cancer incidence by county, which allows TC4 to develop regional reports so members can focus their efforts on the needs in their part of the state.
But the biggest barrier to better cancer screening and prevention services may be money. And it starts with a lack of insurance coverage.
“We are meeting with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee and the American Cancer Society to introduce legislation that would require health insurers to pay for colorectal cancer screening,” said Wujcik. “We’re not just telling the insurance companies to do this, we’re trying to figure out how to do it, what makes sense and what is affordable for the state and for the insurers.”
While TC4 has already achieved several milestones, Wujcik has additional dreams for the future of the Coalition.
“I want us to have a line item in the state budget so that we are well-funded and are not worried about funding the structure
of the organization,” she said. “I would love to see us be able to facilitate research that is specific to the cancer issues in Tennessee.”
When it comes to cancer, Wujcik believes it’s important to dream big.  |
