Principles to operationalize equity in cancer research and health outcomes: lessons learned from the cancer prevention and control research network

Abstract

Reflecting their commitment to advancing health equity, the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) established a Health Equity Workgroup to identify and distill guiding principles rooted in health equity, community-engaged participatory research (CBPR), social determinants of health, and racial equity frameworks to guide its collective work. The Health Equity Workgroup utilized a multi-phase, participatory consensus-building approach to: (1) identify recurrent themes in health and racial equity frameworks; (2) capture perspectives on and experiences with health equity research among CPCRN members through an online survey; (3) engage in activities to discuss and refine the guiding principles; and (4) collect case examples of operationalizing equity principles in cancer research. Representatives from all CPCRN centers endorsed nine core principles to guide the Network’s strategic plan: (1) Engage in power-sharing and capacity building with partners; (2) Address community priorities through community engagement and co-creation of research; (3) Explore and address the systems and structural root causes of cancer disparities; (4) Build a system of accountability between research and community partners; (5) Establish transparent relationships with community partners; (6) Prioritize the sustainability of research benefits for community partners; (7) Center racial equity in cancer prevention and control research; (8) Engage in equitable data collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination practices; and (9) Integrate knowledge translation, implementation, and dissemination into research plans. Dissemination products, such as toolkits and technical assistance workshops, reflecting these principles will foster knowledge transfer to intentionally integrate health and racial equity principles in cancer prevention and control research.

Identifying research practices toward achieving health equity principles within the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network

“…While health and racial equity have been the cornerstone of many of its research efforts, the CPCRN, just recently, has explicitly operationalized a network-wide equity mission into its charter. Described by Chebli, et al [11], in response to the growing need to address equity, the CPCRN Health Equity Workgroup led a collaborative effort with CPCRN members to define a set of core health and racial equity principles that reflect and guide the ongoing and future research efforts of the network.…”

“…As described in-depth elsewhere [11], this process was initially informed by a high-level review of the literature from which the preliminary equity principles were identified. When identifying the principles, it was of paramount importance to the Health Equity Workgroup to ensure robust participation from within the CPCRN in reviewing and vetting the principles.…”

“…These principles were then followed by a cross-center survey, which asked respondents to rate the applicability of each principle, suggest additional principles, provide illustrative examples from their work, and propose relevant measures (described in the following sections). Survey finding highlights are described in Chebli, et al [11], and provided a foundation of operational examples from each CPCRN center and were the basis for committee discussions and consensus building activities across the network to refine and finalize principles. Through these network-wide activities, in which each network center actively participated, the Health Equity Workgroup strengthened support for the CPCRN focus on health equity.…”

“…Through these network-wide activities, in which each network center actively participated, the Health Equity Workgroup strengthened support for the CPCRN focus on health equity. The health and racial equity principles are described in Chebli, et al [11], and are presented in Table 1.…”

Twenty years of collaborative research to enhance community practice for cancer prevention and control

“…Three working groups are specifically focused on reducing health disparities and achieving health equity. The Health Equity Workgroup is developing resources for network members to aid in advancing health equity in cancer prevention and control [ 15 , 16 ]. These resources include: a set of guiding principles for health and racial equity; tools for measurement and evaluation of health and racial equity principles; and case studies to serve as examples of principles and guidance on how to implement them.…”