Welcome to the Gathering Basket

How to use the Gathering Basket.

The Gathering Basket is a web-based and CD-ROM journey to cancer awareness. This basket was developed by the Southwest American Indian Collaborative Network (SAICN) Training and Education Core members to educate tribal health educators and community members about cancer.

The CD-ROM has seven modules on different cancers.

Each module cover the basics of each cancer:

• What is the type of cancer.
• Why it is important to know about the cancer.
• How it can be prevented.
• How it can be detected.
• How it can be treated.
• For general information about cancer a fact sheet on General Cancer was developed.
• Download the PDF of the fact sheet here.

On the side, you will see links to Taking the Message Home and Sharing the Basket.

• Taking the Message Home section provides information about resources.
• Sharing the Basket section provides information on how you can utilize the information.

The information may not be comprehensive. Cancer is a complex disease. Researchers are currently studying new methods for prevention, early detection, screening, treatment and supportive care. However, this Gathering Basket provides basic information. Where applicable there are links to websites for more current information.

So why did we name it the Gathering Basket?

Traditionally, American Indians have developed baskets for various purposes and tasks. There have been baskets developed for sowing, winnowing and harvesting seeds. Baskets have been developed for watering plants and storing food. In addition baskets have decorative and ceremonial purposes. More importantly, basketmaking was an important local art based on materials and dyes found in the area with each U.S. region developing their own unique basket. Just like traditional baskets, this CD-ROM, the Gathering Basket is a tool to gathering information about cancer.

Acknowledgements:

The Gathering Basket was developed by the SAICN Training and Education Core member:

Agnes Attakai, MPA
Dir. Health Disparities, Outreach and Prevention Education
Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
University of Arizona.

Special acknowledgement to SAICN Educationa and Training Core Members:

• Naomi Lane, MPH Health Program Specialist Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.
• Kathleen Evans, Oncology Specialist, Phoenix Indian Medical Center.
• Benita McKerry Great West Division, American Cancer Society.
• A special acknowledgement to Francis R. Ruiz-Nakai who assisted with the project.

This website and accompanying CD-ROM was developed under the Native Telehealth Outreach and Technical Assistance Program at the University of Colorado Denver http://aianp.uchsc.edu.

Additionally this project was supported by grant number U01 CA114696 from the National Cancer Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH/NCI.