Felicia M. Solomon, MPH¹, Margo Michaels, MPH¹, Joanne L. Milne, MPH², Herbert Baum, PhD², Ellen L. Marks³, Bryan B. Rhodes², and Christine J. Moretto, MPH⁴. (1) Office of Education and Special Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Blvd., Ste 202, Room 2028, Bethesda, MD 20892-8334, (2) Macro International, Inc., ORC Macro, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD 20705, (301) 572-0886, joanne.milne@orcmacro.com, (3) Survey Research Division, RTI International, 6110 Executive Boulevard, Suite 420, Rockville, MD 20852, (4) National Institutes of Health, The George Washington University, 2 Democracy, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Room 105, Bethesda, MD 20892-5481

Nontraditional Organizations (NTOs) - those whose focus is not health-related - can reach the medically underserved with important information on various topics, including health. Examples of NTOs are churches, fraternities/sororities, and labor unions. While there have been successful partnerships with NTOs, little information exists describing the general characteristics of NTOs that might influence the success of partnership efforts. The National Cancer Institute conducted a 30-item Web survey among key informants from over 200 national, regional, and local level NTOs serving ethnic minorities, rural, and low-income groups. Survey items focused on resources allocated to health activities; level of participation in health activities; modes of health information dissemination, and membership demographics. Results profile four types of NTOs, including cooperative extensions (n=62), community groups (n=45), faith-based groups (n=37), and social/civic organizations (n=36), to highlight aspects of the organizational and health infrastructure that might influence partnership. The results reflect differences by type of NTO. For example, the primary health activity reported by cooperative extensions was providing health education, while community-based groups reported attending health conferences, and labor unions did health advocacy. Cooperative extensions tended to disseminate information to constituents via newsletters or other publications, while community and social/civic groups disseminated via conferences. Partnering with NTOs is a potential strategy for improving the dissemination of cancer information to medically underserved groups. These findings can provide information to inform partnerships with these organizations.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of the session, participants (learners) will be able to (
• recognize characteristics of NTOs organizational and health infrastructure that might influence partnerships with the groups, (
• identify common health and cancer activities, especially those related to information dissemination, and (
• discuss the potential that NTO partnerships offer for accessing hard to reach populations.

Keywords: Underserved Populations, Community-Based Partnership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.