|
June is National Cancer Survivor's Month
According to the
National Cancer Institute
, an individual is considered a cancer survivor from the time of diagnosis through the balance of his or her life. In addition, because a cancer diagnosis also affects family members, friends, and caregivers, they too are considered cancer survivors.
A goal of the 2015-2020 NH Comprehensive Cancer Plan is to optimize quality of life for those affected by cancer. As the number of cancer survivors continues to increase, more services will be needed to treat the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and financial issues faced by cancer survivors.
Read more...
|
| |
| Click Here To Become a Member of the NH CCC |
| Join Our List  |
| Share this information... If you know someone who may be interested in joining NH CCC or in learning more about our activities, please forward this newsletter. Thank you! |
|
|
Message from the Board Chair: Robert Gerlach
|
I hope you had the opportunity to attend our highly engaging Annual Meeting, Cancer Care in New Hampshire:
Understanding the Patient Experience on April 6th. Many attendees echoed my reaction that the program captured the range and inter-relatedness of our interests and efforts to eliminate cancer in the state.
I am reiterating and extending a call, that I issued at the Annual Meeting, for members to submit ideas for future NH CCC collaborative initiatives. In conjunction with the issuance of the
2015-2020 New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan, NH CCC reorganized around the concept of "task forces" where members work together to reach specific milestones over a defined period of time. I encourage those of you who are interested to take advantage of our existing NH CCC forums to help us work on specific steps toward achieving the objectives in the cancer plan.
|
| Heritable Cancer Risk |
The NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration, in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center, is pleased to release a new emerging issue brief, Heritable Cancer Risk, that highlights the issues surrounding just how much of cancer incidence can be attributed to heritability and how much to all other causes, including the environment and random genetic changes incurred during life. This brief provides examples of a number of features we have come to recognize in families and patients in the genetic testing process.
|
|
|
We're on Facebook! Stay connected with us and like our page to receive notifications on current events, upcoming trainings, resources, local news and more.
|
Shared Decision Making
Become a Champion at the June 22 Workshop!
|
The New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration's
Shared Decision Making Task Force sponsored a workshop on May 5 that was taught by Manish Mishra and Stuart Grande from The Dartmouth Institute's Preference Lab.
The Shared Decision Making (SDM) Task Force coordinated the workshop in an effort to increase access to shared decision making for cancer screenings, an objective of the
NH Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan. The workshop offered practical role play exercises, giving attendees the skills needed to implement SDM within their organizations, and help them to serve as champions. This workshop is being offered again on June 22.
Presented by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in partnership with the NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration
|
| Implementing a Lung Cancer Screening |
The American Lung Ass
ociation of the Northeast hosted a
Lung Ca
ncer Screening Summit in NH in June 2015
and as requested by the attendees, has been organizing quarterly meetings to continue the discussion of how to best implement an effective screening system in NH.
The most important risk factor for lung cancer is smoking status, and lung cancer screening is not a substitute for smoking cessation. Experts recommend that lung cancer screening programs be implemented in conjunction with smoking cessation programs. The next quarterly meeting will be held Tuesday, July 26 from 3:00-5:00 in Concord. The agenda will include a discussion of tobacco cessation resources in NH. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lee Gilman (
[email protected]
).
|
| Mammogram Support Fund |
|
We know that finding breast cancer early on saves lives. The Mammogram Support Fund pays for mammograms for people who:
- Live in Vermont on New Hampshire
- Are any age or gender
- Do not have insurance or who have too high of a deductible to pay for a mammogram
- Do not qualify for BCCP
|
| New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration Joins Forces with Hundreds of Local and National Organizations to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates |
The New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration
has made the pledge to help increase colorectal cancer screening rates by supporting the 80% by 2018 initiative, led by the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable.
"80% by 2018" is an initiative in which hundreds of organizations have committed to substantially reducing colorectal cancer as a major public health problem and are working toward the shared goal of 80% of adults aged 50 and older being regularly screened for colorectal cancer by 2018.
|
Screening for Colorectal Cancer: Optimizing Quality
CDC Continuing Education
|
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death for men and women combined in New Hampshire and in the U.S. We can maximize the number of lives saved through CRC screening by
screening more people and ensuring that the screening is done well, and at appropriate intervals. Increasing proper screening in disparate populations is a goal included in the
NH Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan.
Screening for Colorectal Cancer: Optimizing Quality is a CDC-sponsored continuing education course offered online to provide guidance and tools for clinicians on the optimal ways to implement screening and surveillance for CRC. There are two versions, one for primary care providers and one for clinicians who perform colonoscopies.
|
|
Partners Promote HPV Vaccine to Prevent Cancer
|
Many partners are helping the Collaboration make progress toward meeting the objectives in the
An objective of the Plan is to increase the number of NH youth who receive the complete series of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The vaccine protects against the HPV types that cause most cervical cancers and cancers of the anus, vulva, vagina, and oropharynx.
|
| Highlights from the 2016 Quality of Life Task Force |
"Pain associated with cancer can almost always be relieved, yet it is a problem in at least 60% of patients in active treatment. Cancer related pain can devastate quality of life - affecting work, appetite, sleep and time with family and friends."
-ACS Cancer Action Network
The Quality of Life Task Force of the New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration (NH CCC) conducted a survey in January of 2016 to determine current pain assessment and management practices in New Hampshire cancer care centers. The specific area of interest was to determine the scope of interventions currently offered to patients living with cancer pain for relief and prevention of pain.
A
rack card was developed to provide education and awareness about evidence based non-pharmacological interventions and resources that staff can present to the patient to prevent and/or manage their pain.
|
|
Foundation for Healthy Communities
Celebrates 20 Years
|
The Foundation for Healthy Communities celebrated its 20th Anniversary at an event held May 12th at the Bridges House in East Concord, thanking all those who have contributed to the success of the organization.
More than 70 people representing board members, funders, colleagues, and staff who have partnered with the Foundation over the past two decades to improve the health and health care in communities attended the celebration.
The Foundation's work to improve community health began with visionary leaders anticipating health care reform and opportunities in New Hampshire to work better together for health on behalf of patients and communities. NH CCC is one of many initiatives managed by the Foundation.
|
|
For More Information
|
For more information about NH CCC go to our website
www.nhcancerplan.org or email [email protected] |
|
|
