Project ECHO: Community Cancer Survivorship
Active Living after Cancer (ALAC), is a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) funded program. This program aims to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors in Houston and El Paso by promoting physical activity, and by providing navigation services for survivorship issues. The evidence-based program was developed and tested at MD Anderson, and extended to be delivered to the greater Houston area and El Paso community.
Through Project ECHO, we are providing on-going training and mentoring to community health workers implementing the Active Living after Cancer program. We provide case based learning, where the community health workers are able to share the experiences or issues they encounter while implementing the program. We deliver didactic lectures to train and address important topics for effective program implementation, and deliver didactic lectures over topics related to cancer survivorship.
Overview
It is estimated that one in three women and one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer in their life time. Based on Texas Cancer Registry data, there are over half a million cancer survivors in the state of Texas (254,309 men and 257,095 women). Breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers account for the largest number of survivors, over 50%. Ethnic minorities make up 35% of cancer survivors and 22% of cancer survivors live in low-income areas (i.e., census tracts where 20% or more of the residents live below the federal poverty level). The number of cancer survivors is expected to grow, as survival rates improve along with the growth and aging of the general population. Thus, a large and growing number of cancer survivors in Texas, especially those who are medically underserved, necessitates effective programs to help survivors improve their health and physical functioning, thereby reducing the risk of cancer recurrence or new cancers.
History
In January 2014, the Active Living after Breast Cancer Program (ALABC) was funded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The aim of ALABC, was to provide an evidence-based program to increase physical activity in sedentary breast cancer survivors in Harris County. Active Living after Cancer (ALAC), is an extension of the original grant funded program ALABC. The new grant funded program ALAC, was created to extend the benefits of the ALABC program to all cancer survivors. The aim of ALAC is to improve cancer survivors’ health and quality of life, by promoting physical activity, and by providing navigation services for survivorship issues.
Resources
- MD Anderson Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention & Survivorship
- American Cancer Society
- American College of Sports Medicine
Contact Patty Tracy for past ECHO clinic presentations.
Case Template
Instructions to submit new cases:
- Contact Patty Tracy at psmiller@mdanderson.org to request a case template.
- Fill out the template.
- Send to psmiller@mdanderson.org by Thursday before the ECHO session.
Clinic Schedule
ECHO Clinic: Every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month from 2-3:30 p.m. CST
Partners
Cancer and Chronic Disease Consortium
Kelsey Research Foundation
ProSalud
ECHO: Community Cancer Survivorship Contacts
Patty Tracy - Program Coordinator
psmiller@mdanderson.org
Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., M.P.H. - Director
kbasenen@mdanderson.org