COPECare: A mobile tool for cancer care coordination in Native American communities

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PROJECT SUMMARY American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) have the highest cancer mortality rates of any racial group in the United States. Cancer is the second leading cause of death for the AI/AN population and one of the leading causes of premature death in this population. The overall objective of this Phase I SBIR project is to study the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile- and web-based system to support cancer coordination in Native American communities. Following a user-centered design approach, we will develop a novel tool expressly designed for community health representatives (CHRs) who are primarily tasked with delivering educational information and guidance to members of the Navajo Nation who have or are at high risk of cancer. While CHRs have been found to be critical to raising cancer health awareness and promoting health literacy, a gap remains in care coordination. Culturally appropriate care coordination support will be designed and built on existing mobile tools currently used by this workforce to connect the care team directly with patients and to allow for streamlined, safe and secure communication. Work in this Phase I will be used to determine how to develop the interfacing between the care team and patients. In Aim 1, we will conduct 20 formative interviews with key informants, stakeholders and potential end users, such as oncologists, primary care providers (PCPs), and Navajo Nation patients to understand how the proposed technology can be designed to directly support existing cancer care coordination processes. We will develop user stories and personas to capture the process. In Aim 2, we will build off of Aim 1 and design a prototype of the system that will be reviewed by a panel of Navajo cancer survivors and families using a walkthrough method. In Aim 3, we will conduct usability testing with another cohort of target end users (5 CHRs, 5 breast cancer patients, 5 colorectal patients) to assess feasibility and usability of the prototype. The system will be built on a community-based health framework focusing on follow-up care for breast and colorectal cancer survivors after the point of diagnosis. Results from this project will go towards the future development of novel, culturally-appropriate technologies designed to promote collaboration and coordination between cancer patients and at-risk cancer patients, CHRs, oncologists, PCPs, and other cancer care team members in Navajo Nation. This innovation has high public health significance with the potential to serve other Native American communities across the US.