A Scoping Review of Whole-of-Community Interventions on Six Modifiable Cancer Prevention Risk Factors in Youth: A Systems Typology

Authors

Ann M. Essay, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Chelsey R. Schlechter, University of Utah
Carrie A. Mershon, Kansas State University
Alissa V. Fial, Marquette UniversityFollow
Jennie Ellison, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Richard R. Rosenkranz, Kansas State University
David A. Dzewaltowski, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2021

Publisher

Elsevier

Source Publication

Preventivie Medicine

Source ISSN

0091-7435

Abstract

Whole-of-community interventions delivered across entire geospatial areas show promise for improving population health for youth cancer prevention. The aims of this scoping review were to synthesize the whole-of-community intervention literature on six modifiable risk factors in youth for cancer prevention (alcohol use, diet, obesity, physical activity, sun exposure, tobacco use) and to develop and apply a typology describing the inclusion of fundamental control system functional characteristics. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, PsycINFO, and Scopus for studies published to the end of 2019. Eligible studies included a geospatially defined whole-of-community intervention; youth 0–18 years; and at least one of the six cancer risk factor outcomes. An iterative process was undertaken to create a typology describing the functions for whole-of-community interventions guided by systems theory, and the typology was used to code the included interventions. A total of 41 interventions were included. Most interventions (43.9%) assessed multiple cancer risk factors. Few interventions provided fundamental functions necessary for community system coordination: sensor, controller, effector. Although communities are a patchwork quilt of microsystems where individuals interact in geographically bounded places nested within larger whole systems of influence, a control systems approach has not been used to frame the literature. Whole-of-community interventions can be characterized by the fundamental system functions necessary for coordinating population health improvement. Future whole-of-community intervention efforts should draw on fundamental knowledge of how systems operate and test whether adoption of the key functions is necessary for whole-of-community population health improvement.

Comments

Accepted version. Preventive Medicine, Vol. 153 (December 2021): 106769. DOI. © 2021 Elsevier. Used with permission.

Recommended Citation

Essay, Ann M.; Schlechter, Chelsey R.; Mershon, Carrie A.; Fial, Alissa V.; Ellison, Jennie; Rosenkranz, Richard R.; and Dzewaltowski, David A., "A Scoping Review of Whole-of-Community Interventions on Six Modifiable Cancer Prevention Risk Factors in Youth: A Systems Typology" (2021). Library Faculty Research and Publications. 115.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/lib_fac/115