In the United States, every 73 seconds a person is sexually assaulted and 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men are victim to an attempted or completed rape¹. To address this problem, Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) were assembled to develop an integrated approach for coordinated care and services through interdisciplinary teams. Coordinated care is based on how the team effectively communicates among all members to ensure the needed services and support for victims are being met. The purpose of this review is to address how barriers in interdisciplinary communication affect the efficacy of SARTs, to determine the impact of these barriers on victims’ care and outcomes, and to identify recommendations using the Systems Theory of Communication to alleviate common barriers. A literature review was conducted on PubMed, SAGE, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, Taylor & Francis, and NCBI databases. Key terms searched included sexual assault, Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs), multidisciplinary teams, communication, interdisciplinary communication, care coordination or coordinated care, efficacy, and college campuses in various combinations. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed articles published from 2008 to 2020 in the United States. Preliminary results have identified a number of principal challenges that arise in communication within SARTs. Namely, role confusion, confidentiality, information sharing, and individual perceptions. In conclusion, this presentation hopes to provide a replicable set of recommendations to improve communication within SARTs and enhance victims’ care and outcomes across communities and college campuses.

Background: Our purpose was to investigate how employed people with diabetes manage private health information in the workplace. Specific aims were to: 1) understand how stigma and social support influence diabetes self-management behaviors (DSMB) and diabetes quality of life (DQOL); and 2) investigate reasons why people with diabetes choose to reveal or conceal private health information, particularly as decisions affect workplace accommodations and overall quality of life.

Methods: Participants completed two online surveys. Participants (N=397) included 201 male and 196 female employed adults with diabetes ages 30-60 years. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to test associations between experienced stigma and social support from friends (independent variables) and DSMB and DQOL (dependent variables). Interactions were tested to examine whether experienced stigma moderated the effect of social support from friends on DSMB and DQOL. Open-ended responses were evaluated using grounded theory to determine how people with diabetes described managing diabetes in the workplace.

Results: Experienced stigma negatively predicted DSMB and DQOL (p<.05). Social support from friends positively predicted DSMB and DQOL (p<.05). Experienced stigma moderated the effect of social support from friends on DQOL (p=.0147). Participants’ open-ended survey responses varied, but primarily were focused on the forced lack of privacy.

Conclusions: Understanding how stigma and social support interact in the workplace will aid healthcare professionals in making health information management recommendations for diabetes patients on how to communicate with others in the workplace. Learning more about privacy management may help people with chronic conditions manage health information in a more fulfilling manner.

Background: The Philippines recently enacted the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act that mandated expansion of access to primary care services. PhilHealth, the social health insurance agency is designing a primary care benefit package that will be made universally available to all Filipinos soon.

Methodology: We documented communication issues from a series of focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted by PhilHealth to help inform the design of a new primary care package. The FGDs involved paying and subsidized members, as well as public and private providers of various types in three regions of the country. The FGDs tackled various design elements such as benefit coverage, member registration, provider accreditation, provider payment and performance monitoring.

Results: Majority of the members and providers have limited knowledge on the new primary care package. For both providers and members, the concept of primary care is unclear as to the extent of services covered and its corresponding accreditation requirements, the need and mechanics for member registration, and the concept of capitation and co-payment. Members also varied in terms of preferred modes of communication with the subsidized sector preferring more face to face mechanisms such as home visits by village health workers and community events.

Conclusion: Communication is essential in the design and implementation of the primary care benefit package. PhilHealth needs to consider targeted and tailored approaches to inform members and providers as it rolls out the new primary care package and other benefits. Other countries offering social health insurance benefits may also want to consider the role of communications in benefit design and delivery.

Although social media is a universal, accessible social networking application, there’s little evidence regarding the role of nonprofit and public health organizations on how to measure successes, challenges and outcomes. Broward Regional Health Planning Council (BRHPC) located in Hollywood, Florida, identified how social media and public health can structure community engagement, education and awareness. BRHPC’s social media journey began with Facebook and Twitter and adopting Instagram and Linkedin during their 2018/2019 fiscal year. BRHPC’s social media key performance indicators (KPI’s) are evaluated monthly to identify a diverse audience and foster a public health presence. BRHPC evaluates its social media channels by analyzing likes/followers who are users that opted into following BRHPC’s social media pages.

Additionally, engaged users represent unique visitors that have interacted with the pages by liking, commenting or sharing a post. Finally, reach/impressions are the number of unique users that have viewed BRHPC’s pages. In comparison to the 2017/2018 fiscal year to the 2018/2019 fiscal year, the total number of engagements for Facebook increased from 5,671 to 5,762 and the total number of engagements for Twitter increased from 2,506 to 3,372. In regard to reach, Twitter experienced an increase from 15,134 to 22,541, while Facebook had a decrease from 72,715 to 67,776 due to changes with Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm. By now understanding and measuring the continuous trends occurring with social media, BRHPC can set the framework for nonprofit and public health organizations that are working towards improving their social media presence.

Background: We conducted exploratory research with healthcare providers and sexually active adults to better understand patient-provider communication about HIV prevention.

Methods: We administered a brief survey and conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of 35 healthcare providers in six U.S. communities in August-September 2018 (Phase 1) and 255 sexually active adults across 11 U.S. communities in July-August 2019 (Phase 2). We tabulated survey results, analyzed qualitative data to identify themes, and highlighted notable differences by geography, sexual risk/HIV status, and sociodemographics.

Results: In Phase 1, most providers reported discussing HIV testing with patients “always” or “very often.” Although more than half reported being comfortable having these discussions, communication challenges were the most commonly cited barrier to testing patients. Nearly all providers reported discussing HIV transmission risks and prevention strategies with patients; one-fourth discussed PrEP. Nearly two-thirds said discussing PrEP with patients was easy, but also noted challenges. In Phase 2, the majority of participants identified their doctor, clinic, or health department as their most trusted source for HIV-related information, with notable differences by geography and individual characteristics. Most reported talking with their provider about HIV and felt comfortable doing so. Among HIV-negative participants, about one-fourth reported ever talking with their provider about PrEP, with notable differences by geography and individual characteristics.

Conclusions: Providers and patients reported discussing HIV-related topics, but communication challenges and variances by geography and individual characteristics were noted. Based on the findings, we recommend creating tools for providers and targeted patient education materials to enhance patient-provider communication about HIV prevention.

Latinos are less likely to know and complete advance directives, thus contributing to persistent racial diparities in advance care planning. Rural Latino cancer patients have limited to nonexistent access to health care resources (i.e., palliative care specialist). Despite the structural barriers and heightened need for reducing health disparities, little is known about rural Latino cancer patients’ end-of-life (EOL) decision making. This study explores what perceived to be important in EOL care planning from the perspective of rural Latino cancer patients in the US-Mexico border.

Thirty Latino cancer patients who are enrolled in patient navigation program at a rural non-profit cancer organization were interviewed in person by the trained bilingual staffs. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated from Spanish to English. Qualitative thematic analysis using NVIVO 12 was applied to analyze the data.

Protection of family and family accepting death were found to be the major themes related to the participant’s perceived importance in EOL decision making. Specific suggestions to address the above importance include 1) physician driven family education on death and AD and 2) providing supports to patients in navigating EOL conversations with family members.

Ensuring that family’s emotions are protected and they accept the patient’s death were important to achieve for EOL care planning. In addition, participants emphasized having a sense of control of family matters even after death. EOL care practice with Latino cancer patients needs to address their concerns relating to family relations and actively facilitate patient-family communications on concerns and needs for quality EOL.

Background: Despite progress over the last decade, notable cancer disparities exist among the predominantly African-American and Hispanic Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick.

Objective: Study objectives were to examine patterns and determinants of trust in cancer information across various modalities among an urban minority sample of Brooklyn residents.

Methods: Data were analyzed from The Cancer Health Impact Program of Brooklyn, an NCI funded community-based survey of cancer information and screening behaviors. Primary outcomes were trust in cancer information from doctors, government health/charitable organizations, media, and family/friends and religious organizations. Independent variables were race/ethnicity, gender, age, education, income, and primary language. We used multivariable logistic regression models to identify independent predictors of trust in a cancer information source.

Results: Among 783 participants, trust in sources ranged from 30% in radio to 88% in doctors. In fully adjusted models, non-Hispanic Blacks were two times more likely to report a high level of trust in doctors, compared to Hispanics (aOR = 1.99; 95% CI = 1.19 – 3.32); lower levels of income and education were also significantly associated with lower levels of trust in doctors. Participants with less than a college degree were 40% less likely to report trust in information from the internet. Non-Hispanic Blacks were 1.5 times more likely to trust cancer information from charitable organizations, compared to Hispanic participants (aOR =1.53, 95% CI = 1.11 – 2.12). No significant differences in trust from friends and family and print media were observed.

Conclusion: Significant variation in trust of cancer information sources exists across demographic groups, with implications for disseminating cancer information.

Greater health insurance literacy is associated with less avoidance of health care. Our objective was to provide a synthesis of the literature assessing the relationship between health insurance literacy and health care utilization by conducting a systematic review. The primary search was conducted using Medline (OVID) in August 2019, with additional searches in Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane, and PsycInfo. Search terms included controlled vocabulary and keywords based on two concepts: health insurance literacy (knowledge and application of health insurance concepts); and health care utilization (use of and access to services for preventing and curing health problems, promoting health/well-being, or obtaining information about health). We included all study types and articles published in English. We had no exclusions for studies or participants. Risk of bias was assessed with the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies. The search yielded 3,340 results, with most retrieved from Medline. After initial title/abstract screening, full texts of 185 articles were reviewed. Most were observational cross-sectional studies, conducted after 2000, and assessed adults’ knowledge of health insurance in the U.S. and a range of health care utilization measures, including outpatient visits and medication adherence. Health insurance literacy is a key contributor to access and use of health care, yet challenging to achieve given many changes in insurance coverage since passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Clinicians and policymakers should consider the role of health insurance literacy for patients, both in selecting insurance and guiding decision-making about use of health care services.

The level of awareness and knowledge that patients have about medical radiation is unclear. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine, from the perspectives of patients, the level of their awareness and knowledge of medical radiation. The health belief model was used as the framework for the study. Using purposive sampling, 20 individuals were recruited from the Central North Carolina region, were all over 18, and had undergone or are currently undergoing medical radiation exams. Using semi stuctured interviews, data were collected. Analysis was performed using Yin’s 5-phased cycle, including compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. The analysis revealed that patients had general knowledge of potential harmful effects of medical radiation. Study participants noted the importance of getting credible information about the topic as well as lessening their exposure to radiation. Patients heard reports about individuals getting ill from medical radiation exposure, which motivated them to take action that may benefit those who are about to undergo medical radiation exams. The results of this study may assist health practitioners in learning how to encourage patients in discussing their medical radiation exposure concerns, promoting patient activation. A higher level of patient activation is positively associated with an increase in shared decision making between patients and healthcare providers. By providing methods of improved information dissemination and greater patient involvement in understanding medical radiation and its potential risks, the findings of this study may contribute to increase patient activation regarding risk and exposure to medical radiation.