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May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month
One in five people will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime. New Hampshire is one of the few states with a melanoma incidence rate higher than the national average. Men over 50 in New Hampshire are at an increased risk for developing melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
Skin cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer, with many of the cases being linked to overexposure to ultraviolet sunlight and indoor tanning equipment. Educating teens and young adults about this risk has been a top priority for NH CCC partners.
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Upcoming Events
May 12, 2015 NH Chronic Disease Conference 2015 9am - 3pm "Living Well with Chronic Disease", Concord, NH. For more information, visit www.snhahec.org.
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Message from the Chair
- A Time to Celebrate
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On April 1, 2015, the New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration (NH CCC) experienced the unique opportunity to simultaneously celebrate two significant events; presentation of its 10th Annual Conference and the launch of the 2015 - 2020 New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan. These events represent the culmination of extraordinary time, effort, knowledge and creativity on the part of multiple individuals and organizations committed to a common vision of improving the life of New Hampshire residents affected by cancer.
NH Comprehensive Cancer Plan 2015-2020 captures important changes in focus from previous plans. Framed by three overarching goals, it incorporates policy, system and environmental change strategies while addressing health disparities. It is dynamic in nature, allowing flexibility to meet new and emerging issues of significance relative to cancer prevention, detection and quality of life for those affected by cancer. With implementation of the new cancer plan, we will transition to a task force structure. As we welcome all previous workgroup members as well as newcomers to join us in this exciting new venture, I want to also express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the work of our members and their leadership for their respective accomplishments within NH's cancer plans 2006-2009 and 2010-2014.
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NH CCC's 10th Annual Meeting- Looking Back, Looking Forward!
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The NH CCC's 10th
annual meeting, Aligning Strategies to Improve Cancer Care in a Shifting Landscape was well attended and well liked again this year! Celebration was a key theme of the day- accomplishments over the past ten years as well as the launch of the new 2015-2020 NH Cancer Control Plan. The conference participants had the opportunity to actively engage in a table top exercise related to the three Task Forces (Equity, Shared Decision Making, Quality of Life) that will begin implementing the new cancer plan. Another highlight was that for the first time, all of the cancer centers in NH provided sponsorship support for this conference and there were more total sponsors than ever (26), truly making history. "Each part of the conference was so memorable -I learned a lot, met lots of people, and want to attend again next year" stated Nicole Lynch, senior at Plymouth State University.
Presentations from the plenary speakers and five breakout sessions are available online.
Learn what the three new Task Forces are planning and join in these opportunities to reduce the burden of cancer in New Hampshire: Equity, Shared Decision Making, and Quality of Life.
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We Need Your Voice: Act Now
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 Mike Rollo
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Co-chair, Public Policy Education Committee
There are still some opportunities to get involved in supporting policy issues such as calling or writing letters to your legislators, writing letters to the editor, attending public hearings, or providing testimony. Your voice is needed; act now!
Three bills, in addition to the State budget, that have been followed closely and actively supported by the Collaboration were recently reviewed and updated by the legislature:
- Ban on Youth Tanning (HB 136)
- Clean Indoor Air Act (SB 105)
- Oral Chemo Parity Bill (SB 137)
Read more...
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Excess Weight Gain During Youth and the Future Risk of Cancer
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 The NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration, in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center, recently released a new emerging issue brief entitled, "Excess Weight During Youth and the Future Risk of Cancer."
More and more children and adolescents in the U.S. are becoming overweight. In 2012, one out of three children and adolescents in the U.S. were overweight, including 23% of 2-5 year olds. Overall, it appears that excess weight during youth increases the risk for future cancers that have been linked to excess weight among adults.
To improve the weight status of our children, treatment efforts must address the multiple barriers for leading a healthy lifestyle, and public health programs and initiatives are needed to remove those barriers to prevent excess weight gain among children in the first place. Several national and local agencies, organizations and foundations are committed to improving the health of children by reducing and preventing excess weight gain.
View the full issue brief here.
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April Featured Partner: Stephanie Friree
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Stephanie Friree is a medical librarian for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) New England Region where she serves as the Outreach and Technology Coordinator. She reaches out to libraries, public health agencies, schools, and other stakeholders in the provision of health information to connect them with the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The NNLM provided funding to support the development of the NH Cancer Plan as well as the 2015 annual meeting.
On April 17th, Friree hosted a hands-on training in Concord about the NNLM resources including PubMed.gov, MedlinePlus.gov, ClinicalTrials.gov, and PHPartner.org. Participants were pleased to learn how to navigate these valuable resources. Judy Proctor, Manager for the NH CCC, stated, "Learning about PHPartners.org was particularly helpful to many of us today because it is a one stop shopping resource that is designed specifically for the public health workforce and links directly to Healthy People 2020, PubMed, and Structured Evidence Queries."
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Clinical Trials- Where to Find Them
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Rhonda Souliere, RN, MSN, OCN
Portsmouth Regional Hospital
Cancer clinical trials are an important part of cancer care. Clinical trials help providers better understand what works and what does not work for a particular type of cancer. Participating in clinical trials helps researchers identify lifesaving cancer treatments.
The "Treatment and Survivorship" work group convened the Clinical Trials Coordinators from the cancer centers statewide to develop a map of New Hampshire that informs the public and providers about the clinical trials offered in our state. Due to the work group's efforts, a web site resource is now available for locating clinical trials in New Hampshire. The information is updated monthly and includes:
- A map of New Hampshire listing area hospitals that have clinical trials available.
- A list of clinical trials currently being offered by type of cancer and location(s) of trial.
- A list of trial representatives and their contact information.
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New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Highlights Concerns in New Data Brief: Adolescent Cigarette Smoking and Marijuana Use
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While the majority of New Hampshire youth do not use tobacco (2013 YRBS), more than one in four high school youth reported cigarette use, marijuana use, or both. 70% of the high school-aged youth surveyed who reported smoking cigarettes also reported using marijuana. Preventing young people from starting to smoke and/or using marijuana begins with increasing their knowledge of the dangers of tobacco use, changing their attitudes toward tobacco use, and increasing public support for policies that reduce the likelihood that they will use tobacco.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Public Health Services (DPHS), Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP), has released a new data brief New Hampshire Adolescent Cigarette Smoking and Marijuana Use that highlights data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Five objectives in the 2015-2020 New Hampshire Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan are related to tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
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May Featured Partner: Andy Morse
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 Andy Morse is the Director of Communications at Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association. He has been a NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration (NH CCC) Board Member for nearly four years and has been on the Communications Committee since 2010.
"I enjoy being and working with other health professionals on the Board and the Communications Committee," he said. "Our Board, task force, and committee members have tremendous talent and expertise and are extremely committed to achieving the goals and objectives of the cancer plan."
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New Hampshire Survey of Nutrition Services Provided to Oncology Patients
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Assuring that cancer patients receive adequate nutrition is recognized as a key component of cancer treatment. Both weight loss and inadequate nutrient intake can negatively impact treatment outcomes. Nutrition is recognized in the American College of Surgeon's Commission on Cancer (CoC) standards. The CoC standards aim to improve survival and quality of life for cancer patients through a multidisciplinary patient-centered approach.
Specific nutrition criteria must be met annually and are documented in a self-reported survey to meet the CoC affiliation criteria for inclusion. These criteria can be met differently by CoC accredited facilities. A project to assess whether or not gaps exist in nutrition services was recently conducted.
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New Tips From Former Smokers Campaign Launched!
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 In March, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s, Office on Smoking and Health launched the renewal of the 2012 paid national tobacco education campaign, Tips From Former Smokers (Tips). Tips encourages people to quit smoking by highlighting the toll that smoking-related illnesses take on smokers and their loved ones. The hard-hitting ads show people living with the harsh and painful consequences of smoking. Many of the people in these ads started smoking in their early teens, and some were diagnosed with life-changing diseases before the age of 40.
Read more...
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For More Information
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For more information about NH CCC go to our website
www.nhcancerplan.org or email info@nhcancerplan.org |
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