Capturing catchment area data comprehensively: The North Carolina Cancer Health Assets and Needs Assessment (CHANA) approach

Background. A key requirement of community outreach and engagement offices within National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers is to conduct a comprehensive examination of their catchment area’s population, cancer burden, and assets. To accomplish this task, we describe the plan for implementing our initiative, the Cancer Health Assets and Needs Assessment (CHANA). CHANA compiles, into a single source, up-to-date data that describes the cancer landscape of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Methods. CHANA utilized a three phased approach: (1) compiling existing data from publicly available sources; (2) analyzing novel data source, which links state cancer registry, multi-payer insurance claims, and area-level contextual data; and (3) conducting surveys of the general public and cancer survivors and key informant interviews with cancer-related community organizations to understand their priorities and resources. These multifaceted data resources are curated and compiled into three key dissemination products: a summary report, county-level profile reports, and interactive online data dashboards. Discussion. Through data-driven efforts like CHANA, cancer centers and the communities they serve can better understand gaps in care and information needs, opportunities, and resources to improve health outcomes, and priorities for new research and programmatic endeavors focused on prevention, healthcare access, equity, and quality.