This year, the Dialogue for Action expanded its focus to “cancer screening” from its earlier focus of “colorectal cancer screening” and it was a huge success, as you’ll see from the comments and data from the 2013 attendees in this blog.
Keynote speaker John Polanowicz, Massachusetts HHS Secretary, talks with Michael McCalla, MSHA, at a break.
The Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Dialogue for Action on Cancer Screening: Hitting the Targets took place in Baltimore on March 20 – 22, 2013. Over 200 attendees from diverse health professions came from 35 states and the District of Columbia, six tribes and Urban Indian Health Organizations and Japan to be part of this lively and dynamic interactive conference on access, quality and cost of health care.
Since the conference, we’ve heard many positive comments from attendees by email and phone and in our online survey (with about a 50% response rate).
Here are some of the comments shared by attendees:
“This is always my favorite conference to attend all year and wish others emulated it in both style and substance. Even the small details of food choices matching the mantra of healthier choices and behaviors is emphasized.”
“It was well worth the investment of time and money!”
“The speakers were experts in their fields—thank you. All levels of the diverse audience benefited from the information. The conference certainly inspired innovative thought and debate. This is what generates great healthcare quality!”
From left: moderator Cliff Goodman, PhD, & Seiji Hayashi, MD, MPH, Robin Yabroff, PhD, MBA, & Joe Lipscomb, PhD, discuss access, quality & cost of health care.
Here are the top three reasons for coming to the Dialogue:
- Informative Presentations: “Information on current trends, innovations and updates on cancer screening” was key to over 80% of attendees.
- Networking Opportunities: “Networking” was named by over 64%; some also noted that speakers were very accessible. One attendee wrote, “It was a wonderful networking opportunity. I am coming away with some good tools to implement in our prevention program.”
- Expert Speakers: “Speakers on the agenda” was named as a draw by over 50%. One attendee commented that “the outstanding panels provided a wealth of information which proved useful in understanding the current changes which affect my job.”
Attendees plan to ‘keep the Dialogue going’ with actions on cancer screening that they plan to take after the Dialogue:
From left: Lillie Shockley, RN, MAS, & Jennifer Smith, PhD, MPH, share perspectives in a small-group discussion.
- Over half plan to implement change in their workplaces or communities
- Over 60% plan to contact colleagues they met at the Dialogue to discuss or collaborate on cancer screening activities
Check out the two-page overview of the 2013 Dialogue.
Since 1999, the focus of the Dialogue has been on colorectal cancer screening. This year, the Dialogue expanded to include mandated guidelines-driven screenings for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, as well as screenings for skin, prostate and lung cancers. Continuing education credit is available for physicians, nursing professionals and certified health education specialists.
If you’re a professional working in cancer screening, put this on your calendar: March 20 – 21, 2014 (with March 19 as pre-conference day), and join us at the Dialogue next year! Send your ideas and suggestions for 2014 session topics and speakers to me at Karen.Peterson@preventcancer.org.
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