About me
Equipping Cancer Patients and Providers for Disaster Preparedness
Location: 12
Mentor: Dr. Grey Freylersythe
Background: Disasters are increasing in severity with impacts on population health. When exposed to disasters or environmental hazards like hurricanes, medically high-risk patients (MHRPs) living with cancer, or in survivorship, experience elevated risks for harm related to their health status and likely disruptions of their care systems. This patient texting project is one component of “toolkit” development for the Equipping Patients and Providers for Preparedness (ECuiPPP) pilot that includes a detailed quantitative survey of patient preparedness practices and decision-making processes, focus groups, subject matter expert and key informant interviews, and the creation of a web-based preparedness portal.
Goal: Pilot the feasibility and acceptability of text-messaging for patients living with cancer and their caregivers to alert them of common environmental hazards (like perilous heat) and offer practical preparedness tips on protecting them from disaster threats.
Methods: Literature searches were conducted on disaster preparedness for MHRPs, patient text messaging campaigns, and cancer care challenges during disasters. Sample text message sequences were generated and presented to the Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) for feedback on message content, phrasing, and preferred communication formats. A refined set of text messages, informed by the literature review and PFAC input, will be tested in a future pilot study to evaluate their effectiveness and relevance for disaster preparedness in the cancer-affected community.
Results: Findings from pilot testing will yield a refined set of text messages that will be presented at the RCIF, along with feedback from PFAC and recommendations for bringing the texting project to scale.
