Initial Email to Study Partners

Attachment 3b: Initial recruitment email to study partners

Subject Line: REQUEST: Promotion of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Cancer Study on Distress Screening

Hello [Partner POC],

[INCLUDE PERSONAL GREETING OR NOTE IF WE KNOW THE CONTACT]. We are contacting you about a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) titled Disparities in Distress Screening among Lung and Ovarian Cancer Survivors that will be open to 50 healthcare facilities involved in the treatment of patients with lung or ovarian cancer. Lung and ovarian cancer survivors have low 5-year survival rates, and therefore, CDC believes it is imperative to increase the understanding of the types of psychosocial services they receive during their course of cancer treatment and follow-up care. This study will provide the CDC National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP) with information to inform the development of best practices, evidence-based interventions, and support for cancer institutions to achieve distress screening benchmarks. Ultimately, results from this study will serve to improve the quality of life of lung and ovarian cancer survivors.

Request for Promotion

Since your organization has contacts with many healthcare facilities, we are seeking your assistance in getting the word out about this CDC study to your members who may be interested in participating. Would you be able to include the sample text below in your organization’s [newsletter, Web site] to promote the study? Can you suggest other dissemination channels to spread this information? We would appreciate it if you would let us know when and to whom you disseminate this information so we can track the spread of our message. If you need additional materials, or if you have any questions, please let us know. We greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide.

Accompanying Documents

We have attached the following documents with more information about the study:

• Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the study

• Letter(s) of Support from CDC and our partners, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC), and the Patient Centered Research Collaborative (PCRC)

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [INCLUDE CONTACT INFO OF SENDER]. We look forward to hearing from you.

TITLE AND SAMPLE TEXT FOR ANNOUNCMENT:

Invitation to Participate in CDC Research Study: Disparities in Distress Screening Among Lung and Ovarian Cancer Survivors

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is recruiting healthcare facilities to participate in a study entitled Disparities in Distress Screening among Lung and Ovarian Cancer Survivors. Lung and ovarian cancer survivors have low 5-year survival rates, and therefore, CDC believes it is imperative to increase the understanding of the types of psychosocial services they receive during their course of cancer treatment and follow-up care. Westat, CDC’s contractor, will work with healthcare facilities to conduct a confidential and secure extraction of Electronic Health Record (EHR) data of ovarian and lung patients and will provide ongoing technical assistance and support during the study period at no cost to the healthcare facility.

This study has been approved by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) as fulfilling requirements for Standard 4.7 Studies of Quality. Participating CoC-accredited healthcare facilities may participate for credit. Also of note, is that this study was informed by input from the Patient Centered Research Collaborative (PCRC), a research cooperative group comprised of oncology social workers, patient advocates, and academic researchers.

In addition, CDC will provide participating healthcare facilities with a free feedback report displaying their study results as well as de-identified and aggregated comparative results from all healthcare facilities that participate in the study. Results from this study will serve as an opportunity for participating healthcare facilities to develop a more systematic understanding of the processes, facilitators, and barriers related to administering the screening. Findings may also help to identify potential disparities experienced by lung and ovarian patients that receive care at participating healthcare facilities.

For more information about the study, please contact study staff, Theresa Famolaro or Diane Ng at [800 number] or [[email protected]].