A Summary of the PAC³ Process

Through the vision and leadership of the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania embarked on a new venture to develop the first-ever, comprehensive cancer control plan. Early in 2001, the DOH began planning for a Future Search Conference, where sixty stakeholders representing diverse backgrounds convened in Harrisburg for three days to discuss the past, present, and future of cancer control in the Commonwealth. Participants included representatives of government, healthcare delivery organizations, healthcare providers, healthcare consumers, communitybased organizations, community leaders, researchers, voluntary organizations, and industry. This was the first step in the dialogue-to-action process.

During this historic meeting, participants envisioned a framework for action to ease the burden of cancer in Pennsylvania. Nine areas came forward from discussion for action: Access to Healthcare, Cancer Information Management, Care Delivery, Quality of Life, Healthy Lifestyles/Prevention, Research, Screening, Technology, and Tobacco Prevention and Control. From these areas, eight work groups emerged.

Simultaneously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Cancer Society (ACS), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC), and other key national stakeholder organizations sponsored a Leadership Institute on comprehensive cancer control planning for cancer control leaders throughout the country. Pennsylvania was selected as one of the regional training locations by the sponsors: ACS, NCI, ICC, American College of Surgeons (ACoS), Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), Chronic Disease Directors (CDD), National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), National Dialogue on Cancer (NDC), National Governors Association (NGA), and North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR).

Fifteen representatives from Pennsylvania organizations such as the DOH and state agencies, the ACoS, ACS, ICC, NCI cancer centers, and state government attended the Leadership Institute and discussed how to implement a comprehensive cancer control approach within Pennsylvania. At that time, Pennsylvanian participants agreed to form a new consortium — the Pennsylvania Cancer Control Consortium (PAC³) — to guide Pennsylvania’s planning efforts and its Executive Team.

CDC provided a funding opportunity to states that were interested in developing comprehensive cancer control plans. In 2001, the DOH competed for and received a cancer strategic planning grant from CDC.

With this funding and financial support from ACS, Pennsylvania advanced its ideas and designed the strategic planning process. The 21-member Executive Team held several meetings in the first six months of 2002. In June 2002, nearly 100 stakeholders participated in the first inclusive PAC³ meeting held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Since then, more than 190 stakeholders representing the healthcare community, cancer research centers, academia, community organizations, advocacy groups, insurers, industry, and cancer survivors joined the Pennsylvania DOH and the Executive Team as members of PAC³ to develop goals with objectives and write the first ever Pennsylvania Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan. The members, which formed eight work groups that year, accomplished these tasks:

• Reviewed issues that spanned the cancer continuum (from prevention to end-of-life).
• Focused on broad areas of importance related to cancer control.
• Assessed the influence of key cross-cutting topics (technology, disparities, advocacy, and communication).
• Deliberated and developed a set of priority goals, objectives, and related potential actions.
• Identified items for future consideration.

The products of these work groups form the backbone of this Plan and represent the collaborative nature of the PAC³ process and a consensus view of the stakeholders involved.