Deema Bunni
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Yun Jiang
Research Mentor School/College/Department: / Nursing
Program: UROP
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Deema Bunni, Grace Walters, Yun Jiang
Abstract
The transition of cancer care can affect the daily lives and routines of patients who are adjusting to a new period of care within their treatment journey. The risks of medication and drug-related side effects are increased when a patient transitions to at-home care following a period of hospital cancer care. When making the transition to at-home care, many patients report a lack of understanding of the side effects related to their medications and how to manage them. This project aims to identify any additional possible barriers or facilitators towards patient engagement in reporting medication-related safety events in hopes of creating a patient-centered reporting platform. The long-term goal of this project is to make the period of transition of cancer care more smoothly for cancer patients by allowing them to manage their medications and communicate with their doctors on a platform. The study gained insight into the patient’s experiences through the conduction of 1-on-1 qualitative phone interviews on Zoom. Based on the interviews that were conducted, it was found that a lot of older patients like using a portal, but struggle with navigation. So, user-friendliness is an already existing barrier to patient engagement in reporting medication results. Additionally, another known conclusion is that cancer patients are informed to report to their healthcare team when they experience side effects at home. Patients often understand the importance of connecting with their doctors and medical team and feel like they must be vigilant about adhering to cancer care at home. This observation indicates a facilitator toward patient engagement in medication adherence. Patients who take anti-cancer oral agents and have trouble managing their medications following their cancer care transitions will benefit from the patient-centered reporting platform.
