Public policy advocacy at the local, state and federal levels is a major part of customizing support for prostate cancer survivors and men who might someday become survivors. In 2014 NASPCC adopted public policy advocacy as a core strategic priority of the organization, setting the following as a goal:
NASPCC will be the lead organization in the U.S. advocating and lobbying for prostate cancer related funding and federal, state, county and municipal laws, ordinances and regulations favorable to the fight against prostate cancer; which in turn will support efforts to eradicate prostate cancer as a source of pain, suffering and death.
To accomplish this goal, NASPCC has established the following benchmarks. NASPCC will and is:
- Training. Providing train the trainer training to state coalition representatives to include basic advocacy training, strategic planning and issue selection.
- Issue Selection. Developing an issue selection process (tool) that will facilitate the selection of legislative issues on which NASPCC will advocate based on the organization’s capacity, the extent of benefits the issue will provide to the overall prostate cancer problem, the scientific evidence upon which the issue is based, etc.
- Solicit Issues. Soliciting state coalitions and other entities and individuals for federal and state issues to be considered as a part of the NASPCC issues agenda.
- Federal Issues Agenda. Utilizing the issues selection tool, NASPCC will develop a federal issues agenda.
- State Issues Menu. Using the issues selection tool, NASPCC is developing a “menu” of recommended issues for state coalitions to consider and adopt as part of their advocacy agendas.
- Public Policy Assistance. Developing an NASPCC issue expert bureau for NASPCC and state coalitions reference.
- Implementation Teams. Developing NASPCC issue implementation teams to plan and coordinate federal issue campaigns and assist with state campaigns.
Recent public policy efforts of NASPCC have included forming a strategic alliance with Us TOO International and actively working at the congressional level to preserve CDC funding for prostate cancer education and awareness activities; a campaign that will continue in full force once the federal House of Representatives elects a new Speaker of the House and congress determines to again take-up consideration of spending bills.
This page contains a variety of resources to assist your own learning. They include recent NASPCC Conference Presentations and Recommended Readings
NASPCC Annual Meeting Presentations
Please use the links below to view/download these presentation materials. Each will open in a new window and each is in PDF form requiring a plugin to view.
- Developing Approaches to Help Prostate Cancer Patients Better Manager Their Emotional Journey, Terry Kungel
- Awareness and Education Survey 2012, Wolfram Blattner
- Empowering Patients, Joel Nowak
Recommended Reading
Each of the following books can be found on Amazon:
- The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Siddhartha Mukherjee
- The Foremost Good Fortune. Susan Conley
- Anticancer: A New Way of Life. David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D.,
- About the Its Not Bike: My Journey Back to Life. Lance Armstrong
- Saving Your Sex Life: A Guide for Men with Prostate Cancer. John P. Mulhall
- I PAD For Dummies. Edward C. Baig and Bob LeVitus
- 100 Questions and Answers on Prostate Cancer. Pamela Ellsworth
- Survive to Win. Bob Watson
- Overdiagnosed and Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health. H. Gilbert Welch
- Prostate Cancer Survivors Speak Their Minds. Arthur L. Burnett & Norman S. Morris
- Promoting Wellness for Prostate Cancer Patients. Mark Moyad
- That Black Men Might Live: My Fight Against Prostate Cancer. Rev. Charles Williams & Vernon Williams
- Intimacy with Impotence: The Couple's Guide to Better Sex After Prostate Disease. Ralph & Barbara Alterowitz
- Dead Men Don't Have Sex: A Guy's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer. Robert Hill
- There's No Place Like Hope: A Guide to Beating Cancer in Mind- Sized Bites. Vickie Girard
- Taking Time: Support for People With Cancer. National Cancer Institute
Also recommended:
- Uro Today – magazine where medical articles can be found archived.
- Malecare - downloads on Advanced Cancer, clinical trials, foreign language materials, help for patients and families - transportation, medication, treatments, housing.
- Prostate Cancer Treatment Research Foundation (PCTRF) - was established in November 2010 to help people interested in, and affected by prostate cancer through education and research.
The primary goal of the foundation is to help people make better decisions about prostate cancer treatment.
We will accomplish this goal by supporting and promoting educational resources relevant to prostate cancer treatment such as the Prostate Cancer Results Study Group and the PCa Commentary by making their results readily available:
- to patients, and the groups that support them,
- to medical professionals, as they seek to provide the best care for their patients,
- to policy-makers, charged with allocating resources for the best outcomes.
The National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions (NASPCC) strongly recommends that state advocacy groups familiarize organizational leadership with established best practices, and keep abreast of research and advances in prostate cancer care.
Defining Best Practices
For details on the importance of this model in defining best practices, please visit Understanding Evidence-based Healthcare: A Foundation for Action on the US Cochrane Center website.
Access to quality care for men with prostate cancer is a major national issue. Some states have small collaborative networks for finding care for underserved men. California is the only state that has a successfully established a formal state program for providing follow-up care for men after screening - Improving Access, Counseling & Treatment For Californians With Prostate Cancer (IMPACT). The California Prostate Cancer Coalition supports this important and unique program.
The following expert statements on prostate health screening can be helpful when explaining screening tests available for men who are interested in screening to support prostate health.
The PSA Blood Test
The Digital Rectal Exam
All men diagnosed with prostate cancer should take the time to understand their risk and appropriate treatment options based on risk. This resource page developed by the Prostate Cancer Coalition of North Carolina can be used to help men navigate their cancer care experience.
The "Guide For Success" is divided into multiple sections, each containing successful practices on many topics. The practices are ones that have been submitted by existing coalitions in the expectation that in a collaborative effort we can all learn from one another, encourage one another, and support one another.
The specific topics covered in the "Guide For Success" are:
- Organization of a Board of Directors.
- Funding.
- Awareness.
- Under Utilized, Under Served.
- Assistance for Prostate Cancer Patients.
- Leadership Training for Support Group Leaders.
The "Guide for Success" is available in two formats. The PDF version may be re-printed and shared with colleagues, and the MS-Word version is provided so you can copy and paste sections of the document for you coalition's use.
Download the PDF version of the Guide for Success
Download the MS-Word version of the Guide for Success