Capacity Building Resources

Be Well Communities: Empowering organizations to select evidence-based interventions for cancer control: Evidence-based interventions are programs, policies and strategies that have been proven to be effective in well-designed, rigorous research studies. To reduce the risk of cancer, it is critical to empower community-based organizations with evidence-based interventions, especially in communities with limited resources. This tool serves to support organizations, especially those who do not focus primarily on health, with selecting evidence-based cancer prevention and chronic disease interventions that can be implemented at the community level.

Healthy eating guide: Making the right food choices is a powerful cancer prevention tool. This resource guide is for community-based organizations in the Houston area, who serve individuals that want to learn more about healthy eating, cooking, gardening and related topics. The guide also contains resources that support access to food assistance programs.

Active living guide: Being physically active can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your cancer risk. This resource guide is for community-based organizations in the Houston area, who serve individuals who want to learn more about active living, places to be physically active and related topics.

Community coalitions align diverse community partners around common health promotion goals and activities. Coalitions also connect these activities with community residents. We support local coalitions and organizations by attending meetings, providing technical assistance, and helping to plan health-related events to ensure cancer prevention is a focus.

Be Well Communities team members:

•  Attend local coalition meetings like African American Health Coalition, Hispanic Health Coalition, LBJ Hospital Community Alliance and many other meetings
• Secure speakers for local health conferences and community meetings such as The State of African American Health in Houston
• Serve as officers for local community coalitions to ensure cancer prevention is a focus
• Connect local community-based organizations with other organizations to help secure additional services or funding

Cancer risk is cumulative over the lifespan and multiple national institutions have recognized that childhood is an important time to prevent the development of risk factors for cancer (e.g., physical inactivity, obesity, tobacco use, ultraviolet radiation exposure). With their large reach and captive audience, schools are an important venue for cancer prevention and health promotion efforts focused on youth.

• The School Community of Practice Collaborative is an initiative that brings together school districts across the greater Houston and Austin areas to share best practices at the district level to deliver health and wellness programming, including cancer prevention curriculum and information. It is operationalized by a collaboration between the MD Anderson Cancer Prevention and Control Platform and CATCH Global Foundation.
• The Sunbeatables® Program is a sun safety curriculum to educate preschool through fifth grade students and their parents about sun protection and promote sun safety behaviors to reduce children’s lifetime risk of developing skin cancer.