Improving the CBCRP through Evaluation
California taxpayers deserve to have the funds they provide for breast cancer research spent wisely. That’s why the California Breast Cancer Research Program is conducting a multiyear, formal evaluation of the entire program. Evaluation helps the program target research dollars where they will do the most to reduce and end the suffering caused by breast cancer.
Over the past several years, the CBCRP has evaluated several of its award types: the Community Research Collaboration awards, the Postdoctoral Fellowship awards, the New Investigator awards, and the Innovative, Developmental, Exploratory Awards (IDEAs). The results of these evaluations were used by the CBCRP’s advisory Breast Cancer Research Council to set priorities. These evaluations are available in print to the public and can also be viewed on the Program Web site.
During 2007, the CBCRP conducted a third evaluation of the Community Research Collaboration Awards. The purpose of this evaluation was to investigate whether the quality of the collaboration between community members and scientific researchers led to better research results and outcomes. The evaluation found that research teams who collaborated most effectively on their projects and involved their communities in the research has the most positive outcomes. Examples of positive outcomes include the research results improving health education or health services, the research results impacting health policy or government programs, the general public or the community being educated as a result of the research project, and the researchers receiving awards or honors for their research.
Over the past year, the CBCRP also began a three-year priority setting process. Previous priority-setting processes have led to major improvements in the type of research the CBCRP funds. In addition, during 2007, the CBCRP evaluated the application process for the Program's Core Funding awards, and used the results to streamline the process.
Evaluation Leading to Improvement
Formal evaluations are used to improve the CBCRP. Examples of changes in the program made as a result of evaluations include:
- The CBCRP’s first formal evaluation of the program’s Community Research Collaborations, in 2000, led to a multi-year effort that has increased the number of community organizations and scientific researchers collaborating on breast cancer research questions of interest to communities of California women. This effort is discussed more fully in this report in the section titled “Collaborating with Breast Cancer Activists and California Communities.”
- The CBCRP's second formal evaluation of the Community Research Collaborations, conducted in 2005, highlighted a problem facing the research teams. Once they had successfully tested an intervention, they encountered difficulty applying their research results because of lack of funds. This led to the CBCRP providing a new grant opportunity, where successful research teams can apply for an additional grant to make their results available to other programs, apply their results to changing public policy, or make the public more aware of their results. The evaluation also resulted in the CRC grant amount being increased to $150,000 for pilot awards and $600,000 for full awards. 28
- A previous three-year priority-setting process led the CBCRP to discontinue award types that were not meeting the program’s goals. It also led to the CBCRP investing 30 percent of its funds for five years in the Program's Special Research Initiatives, in order to answer crucial questions about the influence of the environment on breast cancer, and to uncover the reasons why some groups in California bear more of the burden of the disease. For more on the CBCRP's Special Research Initiatives, see the previous section of this report titled, "The CBCRP's Strategy for Funding Research."
- CBCRP staff and the Program’s advisory council informally evaluated how CBCRPfunded research gets translated into new medications, new detection methods, new programs to support patients, policy changes, or other actions that have an impact on breast cancer. As a result, applicants for CBCRP research grants are now required to describe the steps necessary to translate their research project into action that impacts the disease. This has enabled the Program to target its limited funds toward research most likely to lead to progress against breast cancer.
