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Development of a text messaging system to improve receipt of survivorship care in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to develop and examine the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of a text messaging, or Short Message Service (SMS), system for improving the receipt of survivorship care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer.

Methods

Researchers developed and refined the text messaging system based on qualitative data from AYA survivors in an iterative three-stage process. In stage 1, a focus group (n = 4) addressed acceptability; in stage 2, key informant interviews (n = 10) following a 6-week trial addressed feasibility; and in stage 3, key informant interviews (n = 23) following a 6-week trial addressed usability. Qualitative data were analyzed using a constant comparative analytic approach exploring in-depth themes.

Results

The final system includes programmed reminders to schedule and attend late effect screening appointments, tailored suggestions for community resources for cancer survivors, and messages prompting participant feedback regarding the appointments and resources. Participants found the text messaging system an acceptable form of communication, the screening reminders and feedback prompts feasible for improving the receipt of survivorship care, and the tailored suggestions for community resources usable for connecting survivors to relevant services. Participants suggested supplementing survivorship care visits and forming AYA survivor social networks as future implementations for the text messaging system.

Conclusions

The text messaging system may assist AYA survivors by coordinating late effect screening appointments, facilitating a partnership with the survivorship care team, and connecting survivors with relevant community resources.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

The text messaging system has the potential to improve the receipt of survivorship care.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by Administrative Supplement NOT-CA-10-026 from the National Cancer Institute and by a seed grant from UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Hematology-Oncology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jacqueline Casillas & Joshua Macadangdang

  2. Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jacqueline Casillas & Patricia A Ganz

  3. UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Anju Goyal & Patricia A Ganz

  4. University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL, USA

    Jason Bryman

  5. Department of Computer Science, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Faisal Alquaddoomi

  6. Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Patricia A Ganz

  7. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, Eng, UK

    Emma Lidington

  8. Department of Computer Science, Cornell Tech, New York, NY, USA

    Deborah Estrin

  9. Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, New York, NY, USA

    Deborah Estrin

Authors
  1. Jacqueline Casillas
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  2. Anju Goyal
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  4. Faisal Alquaddoomi
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  5. Patricia A Ganz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacqueline Casillas.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The UCLA Institutional Review Board approved the study protocol and informed consent was obtained for each subject. Participants received a $40 gift card to offset potential text messaging costs. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All procedures were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Casillas, J., Goyal, A., Bryman, J. et al. Development of a text messaging system to improve receipt of survivorship care in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer. J Cancer Surviv 11, 505–516 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-017-0609-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-017-0609-0

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