Nashville NAACP Tobacco Prevention Initiative: An Example Of Community-based Participatory Action Research

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 03 Dec 2007 - 6:00 PDT

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When Reverend Raymond Bowman, pastor of Spruce Street Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, brought his concerns about smoking in the African-American community to members of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, little did he know that he would start something of a revolution in local community cancer prevention.

Although it just began in 2006, the Nashville NAACP Tobacco Prevention Initiative has increased awareness of the dangers of tobacco use, begun changing smoking behavior and tobacco-related policy and provided researchers with valuable epidemiological data on public health disparities in the African-American community.

"The lesson we have learned is that change is possible when academic health research focuses on the community in ways that are compatible with culture and social context," said initiative leader Elizabeth Williams, Ph.D., associate director of minority affairs at Vanderbilt University's Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Researchers call this a Community-based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) methodology, one that engages participants as partners, not just as research subjects. The initiative partners - local community leaders, researchers and students from local universities and medical centers - believe the initiative serves as a role model for similar efforts among minority populations across the country.

African-Americans use tobacco differently than other Americans, Williams says, which illustrates the unique needs of this particular community. African-American women, for example, tend to start smoking later in life than Caucasian women do, and are much less successful when trying to quit. Menthol cigarettes, which are often marketed to African-Americans, may contribute to the increased use of tobacco and cancer disparities among this population as well, Williams says. "Studies have shown that African-Americans may even smoke fewer cigarettes, but that it affects them disproportionately in cancer incidence and mortality," she said.

According to Williams, tobacco use, among all the behavioral factors that lead to cancer, is a key target of cancer prevention efforts. "Cancer affects African-Americans differently than it does Caucasians and other ethnic groups," Williams said. "The disease is more severe and it is often detected at an advanced stage, when treatment is more difficult or fewer options are available."

The CBPAR approach allows Williams and her colleagues to strategize about ways to address tobacco use and chronicle the development of the initiative through qualitative methods including participant observation, focus group data, key informant interviews and historical archives. Since its inception last year, the initiative has successfully changed local policies about smoking on church property and developed community-based tobacco prevention activities, such as a 2006 Kick Butts Community Forum and a 2007 World No Tobacco Day Event.

Initiative members take part in service-learning projects, which include assessing the needs of and tailoring programs for nearly 7,000 members of the more than 20 churches active in the program.

Nashville is firmly in the Bible Belt of the United States, Williams says, and the connection between church and community provides researchers with a vital avenue for preventing tobacco use.

"Our work involves an active process for change - the community might not listen to public service announcements, but they will listen to pastors, friends and family members who speak out about their cancer experiences," Williams said. "Beyond listening, they are motivated to act on behalf of their health. When that happens, addressing cancer disparities moves from rhetoric to action."

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes nearly 26,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; healthcare professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 70 other countries. AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment, and patient care. AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent publication, CR, is a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists. It provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship, and advocacy.

Abstract no. B-42

Source:
Greg Lester
American Association for Cancer Research

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