Who

• State Health Department
• Comprehensive Cancer Control Program

What to Look For

• Lung cancer content in the state Comprehensive Cancer Control plan. Look for existing activities, priorities, and opportunities.
• Tobacco control/smoking cessation and radon prevention activities

Where to Start

• State Comprehensive Cancer Control Plans
• Contact information for state Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs

• Healthcare Systems and Providers

• Lung cancer screening facilities and treatment facilities located in this state/region
• Lung cancer trends (screening/treatment)

• Accredited Lung Cancer Screening Programs in Your State Through the ACR and Go2Foundation
• Cancer Center members of the NLCRT
• Commission on Cancer accredited facilities

• Academic Research Centers/Researchers

• Grant-funded projects related to lung cancer and related topics.
• Researchers who focus on lung cancer and related topics.
• Researchers who focus on population science and health disparities.

• Use the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) to identify relevant research in your state.
• Search PubMed.gov, for journal articles on lung cancer topics authored by faculty/researchers affiliated with an academic research center in your state.

• National or Local Nonprofits or Advocacy Organizations

• State presence or state-level initiatives of national organizations
• Local lung cancer nonprofits
• Tobacco control non-profits/coalitions/advocacy groups

• Search on Charity Navigator or Guidestar (requires free registration)
• Identify your ACS Regional Partners – ACS4CCC.org

• State/Regional Medical Associations and Societies

• Lung cancer initiatives being supported

• Contact your state chair for the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
• Contact your state chapter of the American College of Radiology.

• Patients and Caregiver Groups

• Understand what is important to the people impacted by lung cancer in the state

• Lung cancer support groups in your state

Common Challenge

• Identifying all lung cancer initiatives

Insights

It’s okay to move on to the next task even if you think something is missing. You may discover more along the way.

Consider putting out communications – like newsletters or social media posts – that can reach initiatives and get them to come to you.

“We got stuck feeling like we couldn’t move forward unless we knew every single initiative that was happening, but we realized it’s okay to move on to the next step. We know that we all identify more along the way.”

“Ask your resources, Who else do you recommend that I speak with about this? They know who is working in the lung cancer space and might identify sources you had not thought of.”

• Reaching the right people to ask questions

Ask the people you know if they have contacts in these entities. Sometimes you just have to call around. Many organizations and government entities will have contact information on their websites.

• Adding partners after the coalition has been established

Interested partners might feel that they are too late to join once a coalition has been established. This can be addressed by including a “Join us!” or “Interested in joining?” link with directions or contact info on websites, presentations, and e-mail communications.

Ensure that time on agendas is reserved for discussions on the current composition of the group and reporting on the current representation/types of partners that are present in the group.