Evaluation of formative development in the neighborhood cancer care cooperative

The Radiation Oncology Community Outreach Group (ROCOG) and Neighborhood Cancer Care Cooperative (NCCC) were funded by the National Cancer Institute Radiation Research Program Cancer Disparities Research Partnership program in September 2003. ROCOG/NCCC provides customized, community hospital-based initiatives intended to help close the cancer disparities gap. In our two preceding articles in this issue, we have explored contextual and organizational development, described infrastructure and component programs, and outlined early evaluation strategies. This article will conclude the series of publications describing our early development by evaluating the formative implementation phase of the project. Our first 12 months were initially evaluated through a survey designed to assess staff and key stakeholders' perception of progress. An assessment of the level of completion of key project tasks was conducted 6 months after the survey. This combination has allowed ROCOG/NCCC to determine areas of success and also illustrate those in need of improvement. Our evaluation strategy can also serve as an efficient and inexpensive model for other similar community-based start-up programs to replicate.