Reducing Environmental and Occupational Cancer Risks Toolkit
Module 4: Evidence-Informed Interventions
6. Combine Interventions For Maximum Impact
The majority of intervention strategy examples offered are single interventions. However, we know from experience with tobacco control and related cancer risks that it is not just one intervention that can claim responsibility for the reductions we now see in lung cancer death rates. Multiple interventions at multiple scales have been recommended by the Community Guide, such as:
Multiple interventions at multiple scales are also why we are seeing improvements associated with reductions in carcinogenic air pollution although further reductions are needed across the country. For example:
The Toxics Use Reduction Act in Massachusetts as described in Section 5 of this Module is also an example of a multi-level intervention. For example, the policy includes:
The use of single interventions will make incremental gains. Multiple interventions are likely to catalyze more change. Taking a step back with a systems lens to examine the collection of interventions and their likely impacts can help illuminate both gaps and opportunities to support change at the scale needed.