REACHING MINORITY AND UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS - THE IMPACT OF THE CANCER INFORMATION-SERVICES OUTREACH PROGRAM - PART 3

Through its regional outreach program, the Cancer Information Service (CIS) develops partnership with organizations that reach minority and underserved populations and connects them,vith accurate cancer informa tion and art array of support services and resources. To evaluate the usefulness, satisfaction, and impact of the CIS outreach program on pa rtner organizations, a national random sample survey was conducted by an independent research Jinn in 1996. This paper focuses on the survey results of 359 special population partner organizations that identifi ed their main audience as a specific racial or ethnic group and/or the underserved. Almost all (84% to 93%) rated the services provided by t he CIS outreach program to be very important or important to meeting t he goals of their projects. A large majority of these special populati on partners stated that the CIS provided them with the latest cancer i nformation (67%) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) resources (83%), and more than half (57%) utilized CIS expertise to develop and plan pr ograms. Special populations partners were more likely to use an array of CIS assistance than other CIS partners. Furthermore, they,cere more likely to be heavy users of CIS assistance and more likely than other CIS partners to indicate that the CIS had an important impact on thei r programs. The results indicate that the CIS's nationally coordinated , regionally focused outreach program provides critical support and ha s an important impact on the cancer-related programs of partner organi zations that reach minority and underserved audiences.