Cancer Control Champion Retreat Toolkit: Optimizing the Work of Emerging Champions for Interventions in the Community and Clinic

This toolkit and accompanying video provide a practical framework for researchers, healthcare organizations, and community partners who want to use champions as an implementation strategy to improve the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship interventions. A champion is an individual who facilitates necessary organizational change to implement innovative interventions and programs (e.g., health initiatives, community outreach, clinical guideline implementation) in real-world settings. The resource introduces the concept of a Cancer Champion Activation Retreat, a structured series of planning sessions designed to help teams identify, activate, support, recruit, and evaluate champions throughout the life of an implementation project. Through guided activities, discussion prompts, templates, and real-world examples, the toolkit helps teams map where champions fit within an intervention, create supportive environments, define champion roles, recruit effective candidates, and measure champion impact. Special adaptations are included for community health centers and academic medical centers, along with tools for budgeting, capacity building, observational interviewing, and competency development. Together, the toolkit and video offer a step-by-step roadmap for cultivating champions who can strengthen implementation efforts and improve the reach, adoption, and sustainability of cancer control interventions. For additional details, please refer to the associated publication cited below.