Hospital Creates App For Childhood Cancer Survivors
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Mobile app, website developed to help childhood cancer survivors understand late effects, cope with transition to adulthood
Akron Children’s Hospital has launched CancerLateFX website and mobile app to give childhood cancer survivors the resources they need to live a healthy adult life. Supported by funding from Hyundai Hope on Wheels, the free personalized tool provides education, tips, tools, and resources for cancer-surviving adults who have outgrown pediatric care.
According to the Children’s Oncology Group, approximately 13,500 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year, a number which has stayed consistent for the past 20 years. However, the good news is that survival rates have increased dramatically. Forty years ago the survival rate for children diagnosed with cancer was only 10 percent; today that number is nearly 80 percent. The Children’s Oncology Group estimates that there are approximately 350,000 adult survivors of pediatric cancer in the U.S.
Unfortunately, the treatments that have increased survival rates for afflicted children can also lead to adverse long-term health outcomes once they reach adulthood. Termed late effects, common problems include growth and development, organ function, reproductive capacity, secondary cancers, and psychological disorders. Approximately 3 out of 5 children’s cancer survivors suffer these late effects.
CancerLateFX was developed at Akron Children’s Hospital with funding from the Hyundai Hope on Wheels grant program, which donates $6.8 million per year in $100,000 research and programmatic grants to nonprofit institutions across the nation. The website, www.CancerLateEffects.org, helps childhood cancer survivors to understand late effects, providing prevention tips and building self-advocacy and self-care tools. Also a downloadable app on an iPhone or Android, CancerLateFX generates content based on personal symptoms and medical history. Using the survivor’s cancer type and history of medications and treatment, the app creates goals and aids with talking points that the survivor can use with their current healthcare provider.
“Various cancer-related groups provide educational materials, but they are written primarily for healthcare professionals and often provide too much information for young adults,” said Stephanie Savelli, M.D., director of the cancer survivorship program at Akron Children’s Hospital. “We designed the CancerLateFX app to help educate childhood cancer survivors and improve health promotion.”
Established in 1890, Akron Children’s Hospital is northeast Ohio’s largest pediatric healthcare system and among the nation’s largest with a medical staff of 780. More than 600,000 infants, children, teens, burn victims of all ages, and adults with congenital, genetic, and maternal/fetal conditions are treated at the system’s two hospitals: 253-bed Akron campus and 50-bed Beeghly campus. With 20 pediatrician offices and 70 pediatric specialty locations, Akron Children’s Hospital serves residents of northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, as well as patients from across the country and around the world.
U.S. News & World Report ranked the system among the Best Children’s Hospitals in cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology, and urology. Additionally, the healthcare system offers more than 100 advocacy, education, and outreach programs for healthy children and operates a research institute to advance pediatric medicine. A major teaching affiliate of Northeast Ohio Medical University, Akron Children’s Hospital’s training programs serve residents, 3rd/4th year medical students, fellows, radiography and medical technology graduates, and nursing students.
SOURCE: PR Newswire