Projects promote health in a range of settings
Whether working to improve the health of unionized laborers, urging cancer survivors to quit smoking, or encouraging young campers to wear sunscreen, the Center for Community-Based Research (CCBR) at Dana-Farber is trying to make communities healthier.
It's doing so through a set of ongoing research projects both public and private funds and taking place in settings ranging from homes to supermarkets to construction sites.
The center conducts three overall types of research. The first tests how different kinds of "interventions," or programs, help lower cancer risk within populations. These are mainly randomized, controlled trials such as the "Healthy Directions — Small Business" effort, which is studying 24 small companies with 50 to 100 employees each. Half the businesses receive interventions such as games, literature, and educational programming that encourage employees to make changes in diet, exercise, and smoking behaviors, while half receive literature alone.
Health communications research, meanwhile, explores ways to help people better understand cancer risk and treatment. For instance, the center's deputy director, Karen Emmons, PhD, has been developing a four-part project called the Harvard Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research. It would, among its diverse investigations, examine how residents of lowincome housing developments understand their chances of getting colon cancer and take preventive action based on information found on the Internet.
The third type of research pursued by the CCBR focuses on the social context of cancer risk. As an example, Elizabeth Barbeau, ScD, MPH, is leading two projects designed to counter efforts by the tobacco industry to promote smoking among young adults (ages 18-29) of working-class and multiethnic backgrounds. Both stem from a 1998 court settlement between major tobacco companies and 46 states.
One study is using trained field observers to identify magazine ads, billboards, event sponsorships, and other marketing strategies in six Massachusetts communities. The other involves a painstaking review of internal documents from major cigarette manufacturers and industry groups. "There are about 36 million documents and growing, and it's an absolute gold mine," Barbeau comments.
Here are some of the other projects under way at the center:
- Creating Sun Protection Programs for Day Camps: Teaches camp directors, counselors, and youngsters about the dangers of sun exposure, which can trigger skin cancer.
- Laborers United for a Healthy Future: Works with the Laborers International Union of North America to help workers quit smoking and make dietary changes.
- Project Prevent: Works to help participants lower their risk of colorectal cancer by altering lifestyle habits.
- Reducing Disease Risk in Low-Income, Postpartum Women: Aims to improve the health of low-income, multiethnic women who have recently given birth.
- Promoting Melanoma Control for Siblings of Melanoma Patients: Promotes skin cancer prevention among siblings of people recently diagnosed with melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.
- SMART (Teens Against the Risk of Tobacco): Employs teens to help discourage peers from smoking.
