244178 Context, Community and Disaster: Converting a Cancer Care Community Health Navigation Model for Use in Community Disaster Preparedness

Monday, October 31, 2011

Vy Dao, MA, PhD(c) , Sociology and Department of Environmental Health Science, Tulane University School of Public Health, New Orleans, LA
Laila Bondi-Marschner, MUP, MPH (c) , Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health, New Orleans, LA
Farah A. Arosemena, MPH , Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH , Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, Prof. & Chair, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Patient navigation in cancer care has proven to be effective in providing culturally and technically competent advocacy for patients as they seek to maneuver through a complex health care system for the treatment and management of a singularly distressing event; a diagnosis of cancer. This study seeks to test the feasibility of applying the cancer care navigation model toward disaster response where the disruptive event is that of a natural or technological disaster and where the community is the patient. We draw upon data gathered from 6 focus groups conducted in vulnerable, disaster affected communities located in the Gulf Coast corridor states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Grounded theory coding of focus group transcripts reveal emergent themes and highlight that each community present unique post-disaster issues and concerns. Therefore, interventions initiated in a disaster navigation model should be closely tailored to match the particular milieu of the community and its specific needs. This paper first describes the general cancer navigation model and highlights areas that lend themselves particularly well to developing a community disaster navigation model for preparedness. Then, data gathered will support how different communities along the Gulf require different services in accordance to their capacities pre-disaster. Finally, a new model of disaster navigation is presented reconciling the cancer care navigation model with data gathered from this study. This paper concludes with suggestions on how to implement future disaster response initiatives using this innovative disaster navigation model.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
1. Introduce the cancer care model in terms of justification, rationale and effectiveness. 2. Present the reconciled patient navigation model in addressing disaster response. 3. Discuss the focus group qualitative data and methods used to develop and support a disaster navigator model. 4. Propose implementation of the disaster navigator model in real-time response to community disaster.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualitfied because I am responsable for the gathering, analysis and management of the data from which this paper is written.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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