Ohio Educational Program goes national

Abstract

Many cancer centers reach out to their elected officials by meeting with them on Capitol Hill and inviting them to tour their institutions. But few go as far as the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC). At this National Cancer Institute-designated center based in Columbus, Ohio, elected officials and their staffs take on the roles of patients, researchers, or healthcare providers to gain a more personalized understanding of the importance of translational research and its impact on patient care. “At the end of their visit, we have roundtable discussions, and the feedback is always, ‘we never knew how complex cancer care and research is’,” says Jennifer Carlson, director of government relations for OSUCCC. As further proof of the program's success, legislators discussing cancer-related legislation at government hearings have referred to their participation in Project Cancer Education and the knowledge they gained from it, Carlson notes. “This hands-on program literally takes policymakers from the bench to the bedside and helps them understand some of the challenges we face,” she says, adding that it also helps illustrate some of the lost opportunities that can occur with lack of government investment or support of medical research and care. Because Project Cancer Education has been so successful in Ohio, OSUCCC Director Michael Caligiuri, MD, who was recently elected president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), proposed making it available to member centers across the country. The program is “the cornerstone of our advocacy efforts this year,” he notes. “We have had amazing success in seeing important anticancer legislation move forward in Ohio because of the impact Project Cancer Education has had on our elected officials,” Dr. Caligiuri says. “We are asking the community of American cancer centers through the AACI to implement this best practice at their centers because it will help to justify the greater investment in cancer research and make our elected officials and staff aware of why our cause is such an urgent one.” Participants in Project Cancer Education learn about the challenges of cancer care through role-playing scenarios. Carlson is chairing the committee within the AACI that is developing a toolkit based on her center's existing collateral materials for all member centers to refine and adopt to fit their specific needs. They plan to have the materials available this spring. Additionally, they are working with the National Cancer Institute to roll out a similar program for congressional committee staffers who are based in Washington, DC. The toolkits will include different “tracks,” such as a patient scenario or a researcher scenario. The program can range from 2 hours, geared mainly toward the elected officials, to a half-day or full day, which is designed for their staff members. Participants also receive graduation certificates and pose for a photograph, which is later E-mailed to them to reinforce the program's messages. The program that supported your research has been eliminated because of federal budget cuts. Your second- and third-year budgets have been zeroed out. The institutional review board determined that you did not plan to have enough research nurses for your proposed phase 1 study. Wait 6 months and try again. Due to cuts in federal funding line for your grant, your budget has been reduced by 30% for the next 3 years. Visits to cancer care and research facilities allow participants to see the intricacies of discovery and treatment firsthand. Participants encounter positive results too, such as, “The drug you developed is ready to come to market and is expected to bring in large profits to the university during its patent lifetime. The new science building on campus will be named in your honor.” In the patient scenario, some of the challenges participants learn about are lack of insurance coverage for clinical-trial patient-care costs, the importance of proper insurance authorization for specific treatments, and the intensive recovery that occurs with an allogeneic marrow transplant for acute myeloid leukemia. In some cases, policymakers get a chance to talk with patients participating in clinical trials who are living proof of research's value, Carlson notes. She is confident that cancer centers across the country will find the program beneficial. “By partnering with our elected officials, we can take cancer care to the next level,” she says. The Ohio legislative cancer education program, Project Cancer Education, is set to roll out nationwide. The program gives elected officials a chance to walk in the shoes of researchers and patients. Legislators and their staffs experience firsthand the challenges faced by cancer centers. Cancer centers will receive toolkits from AACI to help tailor their own programs.