The Harvard Cancer Prevention Program Project is designed to the lead the field in the development and evaluation of cancer prevention interventions for ethnically/racially diverse and working class populations who have a high prevalence for risk-related behaviors. The these of the Harvard Cancer Prevention Program Project is to create a new generation of cancer prevention interventions that will be effective with multiethnic, working class populations. These interventions will incorporate elements of the social context in which people live in the design and delivery of the interventions; the behavioral outcomes of this study will be linked to declines in cancer rates and related economic benefits. The proposed intervention model will incorporate elements of the social context in the design and delivery of an intervention addressing multiple risk-related behaviors. The social context is defined as: (1) individuals' key social environments; (2) the influence of social networks on behavioral change; (3) cultural and language factors that may influence health behaviors and receptivity to change; and, (4) barriers imposed by restricted access to the social and material resources. The intervention model will be adapted and tested in two organization settings: small businesses and health centers. The three studies focus on common primary outcomes (fruit and vegetable consumption, saturated fat consumption, and physical activity). The intervention projects use the organization as the unit of randomization and intervention. Integration across projects and an economy of scale will be provided by three cores: 1) Leadership and Administration; 2) Health Education and Communication; and 3) Design, Epidemiology, and Evaluation. This program project, submitted by the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, is based on a unique and potent collaboration between cancer epidemiologists, behavior and social scientists, and health policy researchers. This collaboration provides a process for translation of solidly-based epidemiological findings, testing of innovative community-based intervention methods, and application of intervention research findings into public policy recommendations. These policy recommendations will also inform the future directions of this program project by defining priority risk factors and establishing targeted levels for meaningful risk factor change. This program project provides a unique structure and content for collaborations across disciplines within public, designed to maximize the impact of the intervention and to provide a model for future cancer.
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