Abstract
Professional organizations provide surveillance guidelines for BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA) carriers with intact breasts and/or ovaries to facilitate early cancer detection. However, literature indicates adherence to surveillance guidelines is inconsistent at best. Using the Messaging Model for Health Communication Campaigns framework, we undertook a two-phase formative research approach to develop an intervention to promote adherence to surveillance guidelines. Discussion groups identified preferred intervention format and function in phase I. Findings indicated carriers desired a phone application (app) to assist with surveillance management and appointment tracking. Thus, an iPhone app for carriers to track appointments based on published surveillance guidelines was developed. In phase II, we obtained feedback from BRCA carriers via a survey during a prototype demonstration at a regional conference. Participants in phase II wanted reminder capabilities and the ability to add and modify information fields. This feedback informed intervention modifications, resulting in the Scheduling Necessary Advised Procedures (SNAP) iPhone app currently being pilot tested by BRCA carriers throughout the USA.
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Funding
This study and portions of the development of the SNAP iPhone app were supported by funds from the National Society of Genetic Counseling Cancer Special Interest Group and from the St. Vincent Foundation.
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Courtney Scherr, Jessica Feuston, Dawn Nixon, and Stephanie Cohen declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human Studies and Informed Consent
All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.
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Scherr, C.L., Feuston, J.L., Nixon, D.M. et al. A Two-Phase Approach to Developing SNAP: an iPhone Application to Support Appointment Scheduling and Management for Women with a BRCA Mutation. J Genet Counsel 27, 439–445 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-018-0222-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-018-0222-z