How Communities Can Help People Lower Their Lung Cancer Risk

State and local communities can play an important role in helping people lower their lung cancer risk by using evidence-based approaches to—

• Reduce minors’ access to tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.
• Help people quit using tobacco products.
• Help people avoid secondhand smoke.
• Reduce people’s exposure to radon.
• Encourage people to be screened for lung cancer as recommended.

We offer some important resources below to help you connect with others and learn about approaches that have been shown to work.

Cancer and Tobacco Control Programs

CDC’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program and National and State Tobacco Control Program provide funding and technical support to state and territorial health departments. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs—2014 helps states build and maintain effective tobacco control programs to prevent and reduce tobacco use. Also, health departments can implement radon-related activities in cancer control plans. You can search cancer control plans for these topics.

Community Preventive Services Task Force

The Community Preventive Services Task Force has reviewed a variety of public health interventions designed to help people quit using tobacco, prevent minors from starting to use tobacco, and help people avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.

Evidence-Based Cancer Control Programs

The National Cancer Institute’s Evidence-Based Cancer Control Programs website contains evidence-based cancer control interventions and program materials. It is designed to provide program planners and public health practitioners easy and immediate access to research-tested materials. See their list of tobacco control evidence-based programs.

Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN)

The CPCRN created an interactive training curriculum to help community program planners and health educators develop skills in using evidence-based approaches, and learn about new tools for planning and evaluating community health interventions.

Principles of Community Engagement (Second Edition)

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Principles of Community Engagement (Second Edition) gives public health professionals, health care providers, researchers, and community leaders and organizations guidance for joining with community partners in projects that may affect them. This guide can be used by people in a range of roles, from the program funder who needs to know how to engage the community, to the researcher or leader needing hands-on, practical information for getting people to partner in their research.

The National Radon Action Plan

The Environmental Protection Agency and partners developed the National Radon Action Plan to describe strategies to reduce exposure to radon, such as requiring radon testing and reduction systems. The National Radon Program Services provides resources and links for states.