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Enhancing capacity among faith-based organizations to implement evidence-based cancer control programs: a community-engaged approach

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to promote cancer control among Latinos have proliferated in recent years, though adoption and implementation of these interventions by faith-based organizations (FBOs) is limited. Capacity building may be one strategy to promote implementation. In this qualitative study, 18 community key informants were interviewed to (a) understand existing capacity for health programming among Catholic parishes, (b) characterize parishes’ resource gaps and capacity-building needs implementing cancer control EBIs, and (c) elucidate strategies for delivering capacity-building assistance to parishes to facilitate implementation of EBIs. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted. Key informants concurred about the capacity of Catholic parishes to deliver health programs, and described attributes of parishes that make them strong partners in health promotion initiatives, including a mission to address physical and mental health, outreach to marginalized groups, altruism among members, and existing engagement in health programming. However, resource gaps and capacity building needs were also identified. Specific recommendations participants made about how existing resources might be leveraged to address challenges include to: establish parish wellness committees; provide “hands-on” learning opportunities for parishioners to gain program planning skills; offer continuous, tailored, on-site technical assistance; facilitate relationships between parishes and community resources; and provide financial support for parishes. Leveraging parishes’ existing resources and addressing their implementation needs may improve adoption of cancer control EBIs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the time and insights provided by study participants. We also acknowledge the many contributions made by the project’s Community Advisory Board.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, 222 Richmond Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Bryan Leyva & Richard Buesa

  2. Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Jennifer D. Allen

  3. School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Hosffman Ospino

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Laura S. Tom

  5. Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Rosalyn Negrón & Maria Idalí Torres

Authors
  1. Bryan Leyva
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  2. Jennifer D. Allen
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  3. Hosffman Ospino
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  4. Laura S. Tom
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  5. Rosalyn Negrón
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  6. Richard Buesa
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  7. Maria Idalí Torres
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Contributions

J.D.A. and M.I.T. were responsible for obtaining funding. J.D.A., M.I.T., H.O., L.T., and B.L. contributed to the design of the study, and implementation and coordination of the project. B.L. led the qualitative data analysis and writing. All authors helped draft the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bryan Leyva.

Ethics declarations

The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. The manuscript has not been published previously. The authors have full control of all primary data and agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

IRB approval

The Harvard School of Public Health Institutional Review Board approved all research procedures.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute (U54CA156732, UMASS Boston/Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center Comprehensive Cancer Partnership Program), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R21MD005976), and through a cooperative agreement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the National Cancer Institute (U48DP001946, Massachusetts Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network).

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Implications

Practice: FBOs hold capacity to advance health programming, yet need additional implementation support, including resources and technical assistance, to carry out cancer control-specific interventions.

Policy: Efforts to enhance capacity among FBOs to implement community-based cancer control programs may improve the reach of existing evidence-based interventions to underserved groups.

Research: Future studies should test and compare strategies to improve capacity among FBOs to implement evidence-based interventions.

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Leyva, B., Allen, J.D., Ospino, H. et al. Enhancing capacity among faith-based organizations to implement evidence-based cancer control programs: a community-engaged approach. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 7, 517–528 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-017-0513-1

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