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 Issue 95                                                                                     June 2017
In This Issue
Annual Meeting Recap
Racial Disparities Fact Sheet
Survey: Give Us Your Input
Advance Care Planning in Rural Wisconsin
Health Care Reform and E-Cigarette Regulations
HPV Vaccine Summits
Member Events
Quick Links
Greetings from the CCC Program! 
Dear WI Cancer Council members,
 
Welcome to our first members-only newsletter! We enjoyed seeing so many of you at last month's Annual Meeting (if you missed it, see the recap below). 

This is an exciting time to be part of the WI Cancer Council. In just the past few weeks, more than 50 people have initiated or finalized their Council membership. In all, we are 87 organizations strong, with 174 member representatives. At the local, state, and federal level, conversations keep returning to issues of health care. This makes our work -- and the WI CCC Plan -- more relevant now than ever.
 
Thank you for being a crucial part of cancer control in Wisconsin.
 
Your WI CCC Program Team
Recap: Engaged and Inspired at the Annual Meeting
Thank you to all who joined us last month for the 2017 Wisconsin Cancer Council Annual Meeting at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison. Nearly 140 clinicians, researchers, public health advocates, and others came together to engage around cancer control efforts across Wisconsin.
 
"The day was filled with conversation and networking, the sounds of collaboration in action," said Sarah Kerch, the WI CCC Program's partnership coordinator, who manages the WI Cancer Council. This was the first all-member meeting since the Council's efforts over the past year to re-engage members and improve benefits.
 
Attendees learned about emerging cancer control trends. Session topics included current science around e-cigarettes, the connection between alcohol and cancer, and HPV vaccine promotion. In her keynote address, Frances Butterfoss, a coalition expert with CoalitionsWork, inspired the crowd with useful ideas for building and sustaining successful coalitions.
 
To view handouts and other presentation materials from the day's sessions, visit 2017annualmeeting.wicancer.org and click on "Schedule," then select the session title that interests you.
 
Watch for newsletter updates regarding future member events, which most likely will include regional meetings in spring 2018 and an all-member conference in fall 2018.

Racial Disparities: A Cancer Fact Sheet
The Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System has released a new fact sheet about racial and ethnic cancer disparities in Wisconsin . The fact sheet draws from incidence and mortality statistics from 2009-2013, for all cancers and for the four most common cancer sites (lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate). Four major racial groups are included (African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, and White), as well as ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino).
 
People of color, overall, experience a higher incidence of cancer and higher mortality. The Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System notes, "racial/ethnic disparities stem from a complex interplay of economics, education, social factors, and access to health care."
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI CCC Plan:

Survey: Help Us Understand Cancer Disparities
A message from Tobi Cawthra, Senior Program Officer, Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment

The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment is requesting your help with a short survey . Responses from fellow WI Cancer Council members will help the AHW understand the work being done in Wisconsin to address cancer disparities. The survey takes 5-10 minutes.
 
The AHW is committed to investing up to $20 million over the next eight years to reduce cancer disparities, beginning with breast and lung cancer. We hope to make a significant difference by bringing together community, education, and research to identify solutions. Your contribution to the survey will help us understand what is happening in the state, including where innovative and interesting work is occurring. 
 
When the survey is complete, we will share a summary of results through the Wisconsin Cancer Council mailing list. Cancer Council members will also have the opportunity to stay up to date on our progress and findings. Please contact Tobi Cawthra with any questions about the survey or this initiative.
 
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI CCC Plan:

Meet the Grantee: Advance Care Planning in Rural Wisconsin
MEET THE GRANTEE showcases CCC grant recipients and their cancer control successes. 

Thanks to a CCC Implementation Grant,  Honoring Choices Wisconsin recently certified 28 facilitators to lead advance care planning conversations in rural clinical settings.
 
Honoring Choices Wisconsin, an initiative of the Wisconsin Medical Society, is committed to "promoting the benefits of and improving the process for advance care  planning" in health care settings across the state.
 
Through its grant-funded project, "Advance Care Planning in Independent Critical Access Hospitals," the HCW team provided resources and training to a cohort of rural hospitals, to increase advance care planning conversations among rural cancer patients.
 
The project team reported: "[I]n smaller rural organizations, there are fewer resources-staff, financial, infrastructure. As a result, staff members wear many hats within an organization. Because of their limited time to devote to one initiative, there was great appreciation for ready-made tools and materials.
 
"New workflows, processes, and policies related to advance care planning were created, which enabled hundreds of people to have a thoughtful conversation about future health care decisions and record their choices in writing. Steps toward culture change were taken that are leading to the normalization of advance care planning."
 
With the support of the CCC Implementation Grant Program, HCW will pilot an advance directive community engagement project in Milwaukee beginning in September. For more information about the project, please contact Monica Messina .
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI CCC Plan:

Policy Corner
The Policy Corner highlights recent policy news and updates affecting cancer control. Check out the Policy Updates section of wicancer.org for all of the latest policy-related updates.

Cancer and Health Care Reform: What We Know
On May 4, 2017, the US House of Representatives passed an amended version of the American Health Care Act, a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The bill included several proposals that could hamper cancer prevention and control efforts significantly, including allowing states to opt-out of certain consumer protections, changes to Medicaid and other insurance affordability programs, and a repeal of the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
 
The US Senate is now working on its own version of repeal-and-replace legislation that could move forward with some or all of these proposals. Meanwhile, Wisconsin legislators are pursuing changes to BadgerCare for adults without dependent children through a waiver process separate from the repeal-and-replace bills in Congress. These proposed changes could affect access to cancer prevention and treatment services for low-income Wisconsinites.
 
Proposals that affect health care access and affordability have real and costly implications for people living with cancer. See our new issue brief, " The Cost of Cancer ," for more information on how the experiences of cancer survivors and their families can lend important perspectives to policy conversations.
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI Cancer Council Policy Agenda:

E-Cigarette Regulation Enforcement on Hold
In court filings last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced it was delaying implementation of a new rule governing e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.
 
The rule , issued in 2016, extended the FDA's authority to regulate e-cigarettes and cigars for the first time, as well as other tobacco products such as hookah and pipe tobacco. The rule was published shortly before the release of the 2016 Surgeon General's Report raising public health concerns about e-cigarette use among US youth and young adults.
 
A recent survey shows the public overwhelmingly supports this type of FDA regulation. E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the US and in Wisconsin, where use among high school students rose from 8.1% in 2015 to 13.3% in 2016.
 
The FDA's delay in e nforcement "comes as the vaping and tobacco industries are launching a concerted effort to roll back the Food and Drug Administration regulation through both legislation and litigation," according to the  Washington Post .
 
Tobwis.org offers a free e-cigarette toolkit for advocates, schools, and health care providers.
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI CCC Plan:

Healthy Wisconsin Plan Shares Comprehensive Cancer Control Priorities
Late last month, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released the Healthy Wisconsin  improvement plan, aimed at improving health outcomes across Wisconsin and meeting the goals set forth in Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 , the state's 10-year health plan. Healthy Wisconsin focuses on five priority areas - alcohol , nutrition and physical activity , opioids , suicide , and tobacco - and includes resources and strategies to address policies, systems, and environments for each of these areas.
 
Healthy Wisconsin shares several priorities with the WI Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan 2015-2020 and the WI Cancer Council's Policy Agenda . We know that alcohol causes at least seven different cancers and that decreasing binge and heavy drinking is essential to reducing the cancer burden in our state. We also know that extra weight increases a person's risk for many types of cancers and can negatively affect cancer treatment, and that creating opportunities for physical activity will encourage healthier behaviors. Finally, we know that lung cancer is still Wisconsin's leading cause of cancer deaths , and that decreasing tobacco use and exposure must continue to be a high priority, especially as the use of tobacco products such as e-cigarettes is on the rise in Wisconsin, particularly among our middle and high-school students .
 
Healthy Wisconsin is a wonderful resource for WI Cancer Council members. To learn more, check out the Healthy Wisconsin website , or download the full report here .
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI CCC Plan:

Reminder: HPV Vaccine Summits
Mark your calendars for the 2017 Wisconsin HPV Vaccine Summits:
 
October 18, Green Bay
Bemis Conference Center, St. Norbert College
 
October 26, Eau Claire
Florian Gardens
 
The Summits will help to improve HPV immunization rates throughout Wisconsin by providing the latest data on state-specific HPV disease and immunization rates, current information about vaccine safety, and tools to advance organizational support of adolescent immunization.
 
Advocates, health care professionals, and others who are working to improve adolescent health and prevent cancer are encouraged to attend. You can find more information about the 2017 Wisconsin HPV Vaccine Summits online. Registration will open in July.
 
The summits are sponsored by the Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services' Immunization Program, and the Scenic Rivers Area Health Education Center. 
 
For strategies and action steps in the WI CCC Plan:

Member Events
Share your upcoming events with other WI Cancer Council members by emailing them to Carrie Kilman

June 10, 2017, 8 am - 5:30 pm
Lake Farm Park
3113 Libby Road
Madison, WI 53711

June 10, 2017, 8 am - 5 pm
Gilda's Club Madison
7907 UW Health Court
Middleton, WI 53562

Three dates, three Milwaukee locations:

June 15, 2017, 11 am - 5 pm
Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road

June 22, 11 am - 5 pm
Keenan Health Center, 3200 N. 36th Street

June 29, 11 am - 5 pm
Southside Health Center, 1639 S. 23rd Street
 
The CCC Newsletter is a monthly publication of the Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control Program and the Wisconsin Cancer Council. Its purpose is to share information on cancer prevention and control as it relates to our members in Wisconsin.

For more information, contact: Sarah Kerch, Partnership Coordinator, skerch@uwcarbone.wisc.edu or 608-262-8599.