THE AIM OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING, ASSESSING, AND MONITORING LOCAL CANCER CONTROL RESOURCES.

THE AIM OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING, ASSESSING, AND MONITORING LOCAL CANCER CONTROL RESOURCES. SUCH A SYSTEM CAN BE A USEFUL TOOL FOR LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH PERSONNEL WHO NEED INFORMATION TO BETTER TARGET AND PLAN PROGRAMS AIMED AT PREVENTION, DETECTION, AND TREATMENT OF CANCER. WHEN AGGREGATED IN FUTURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACROSS A LARGENUMBER OF LOCAL AREAS (GEOGRAPHIC AREAS WITH POPULATIONS OF A HALF MILLION), DATA FROM SUCH TRACKING SYSTEMS WILL ALSO BE VALUABLE FOR NATIONAL EFFORTS TO PLAN PROGRAMS AND PRODUCTS TO REDUCE CANCER MORTALITY. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL BUILD ON CURRENT RESEARCH BY REFINING MEASURES OF CANCER CONTROL RESOURCES AND ADDING DATA FROM SECONDARY SOURCES TO DATA CURRENTLY BEING COLLECTED TO ASSESS RESOURCES AND DIAGNOSE THE COORDINATION OF RESOURCES IN A MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITY. THIS PROJECT WILL (1) DEVELOP AND DOCUMENT A DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO STORE AND MANIPULATE THE DATA; (2) DEVELOP DOCUMENTED METHODS AND PROCEDURES FOR UPDATING DATA THROUGH COMPUTER-ASSISTED TELEPHONE SURVEYS AND MERGER OF SECONDARY DATA; (3) DEVELOP TRAINING MATERIALS TO INSTALL THE SYSTEM; AND (4) PILOT TESTTHE SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CURRENT FIELD SITE. SUCCESSFUL IMPELEMETATION OF THE SYSTEM IN THE PILOT SITE WILL BE A KEY TEST OF THE FEASIBILITY OF THE CONCEPT; MUCH PRACTICAL INFORMATION WILL ALSO BE GAINED ABOUT THE SPECIFICNEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM IN A LOOSELY ORGANIZED COMMUNITY CANCER SETTING.