Local cancer coalition seeking more members

In advance of an upcoming summit on the impact of cancer in Tennessee, a statewide advocacy group is working to increase its membership in the Chattanooga region.

“If you look across the state, the Southeast region has a hard time” in terms of membership, said region chairwoman Angie Colbert, who also is cancer outreach services coordinator at Memorial Hospital. “We’re really trying to network.”

Part of the state health department, the Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition fosters collaboration among organizations devoted to fighting to disease. The group is comprised of members from five regions across the state, including the Southeast region around Chattanooga.

That Chattanooga region has only 38 members in the statewide coalition out of 450 total, making it one of the lowest membership levels of the five regions, said Trudy Stein-Hart, the coalition’s program manager. Members include health care professionals, representatives of advocacy groups, cancer survivors and other concerned citizens.

“It is one of the lower ones (in terms of membership), but it is one of the newer ones,” Ms. Stein-Hart said.

The Chattanooga chapter began in 2006, a year after most other chapters were founded, she said.

“They have really cool programs and really dedicated cancer fighters,” Ms. Stein-Hart said.

The coalition’s annual summit in April will focus on the burden of cancer in Tennessee. Members will discuss the coalition’s plan to tackle cancer issues through 2012, which includes a new focus on supporting clinical trials and advocacy efforts.

“Everyone in cancer, no matter where you are, should be working toward the identified goals by the federal and state government,” Ms. Colbert said.

The Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition is funded by a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Disparate cancer-fighting groups can achieve more together than apart, members say.

“It’s all about how we can impact the burden of cancer in our state and in our community,” said Lisa Bishop, executive director of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, which has been a member of the coalition since it started here.

“Working collaboratively, it’s many more voices being heard, it’s many more hands working on the overall mission. ... You’re going to make a much greater impact that you would if you were just a stand-alone organization,” she said.