372 - Communicating During Emergencies with Families with Children with Special Health Care Needs: Perspectives of Providers Caring for CYSHCN

Poster Board #: 372
Publication #: 3911-HP-QA.372

Background: Families with children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN) face unique challenges during disasters. Physicians and other providers are important sources of information for families to improve outcomes and facilitate equitable access to life-saving measures. We conducted a mixed-methods study of pediatric providers who serve families with CYSHCN to assess their capacity for communications during disasters and perception of their patients’ information needs.


Objective: Assess the capacity of pediatric providers to communicate with families of CYSHCN during disasters and their perception of their patients’ information needs.


Design/Methods: We surveyed 230 healthcare and social service providers and conducted five focus groups with providers and public health and emergency management professionals to learn how they provide information to families with CYSHCN during disasters. Data were collected between April 2018 and June 2019. Quantiatative data were analyzed using SPSS; qualitative analyses captured emergency themes using NVIVO.


Results: Most health care professionals did not have a way to communicate rapidly with patients in a disaster (54%), including families with CYSHCN. Only 46% of providers had a fast way (e.g. text message or patient portal) to communicate with all the patients in their practice.

Nearly one half (49.5%) of professionals would provide families with information about a disaster in a severe storm, 64% in an infectious disease emergency, and 43% after a nuclear reactor accident. Families listed providers as their preferred source for information in each of these scenarios. Nearly 1/3 of practices use social media to communicate with patients although providers describe challenges building followers. Several practices use closed Facebook groups to communicate specifically with their CYSHCN families.

Providers believe families with CYSHCN are ill-prepared for disasters and want education regarding preparedness practices and information about local resources. They need materials to share with families during well-visits and investments in technology to improve communication capacity.

Conclusion(s): In this study, providers recognized their potential to provide preparedness education and emergency risk communication for families wth CYSHCN. Provider training in optimal emergency preparedness for CYSHCN and use of new technology for patient communications to build communication capacity are warranted.

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Authors/Institutions: Thomas Hipper, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Leah Popek, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Renee Davis, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Eileen Thompson, PA AAP, Media, Pennsylvania, United States; Renee M. Turchi, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Esther Chernak, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States