UC Irvine

Family medical history from previous generations often goes unpreserved, and critical records either lost or discarded. Historically, cancer survivors received information in a Survivorship Care Plan (SCP). However, SCPs are not always provided; when they are, usefulness varies when pieces are missing, such as genetic test results and updated family history. Certain medical records after a cancer diagnosis should be saved as they allow other providers to accurately assess cancer risk and provide appropriate screening recommendations for individuals with cancer and their family members. Participants viewed a 5-minute educational, animated video (available in English and Spanish) that included an acronym checklist (GROUPS/GRUPOS) to teach which medical documents should be collected after a cancer diagnosis, why they are important to keep, and how to save them for subsequent generations. Identical questions were asked before and after the video to measure knowledge gained from the educational tool. Statistically significant results were observed for the difference between the overall pre and post scores (p<0.001), all four domains: knowledge of medical records to keep after a cancer diagnosis, how to locate these records, awareness of the importance to save them, and confidence in saving them (p<0.001), and 14 of 16 individual survey questions (p≤0.001). Data showed improvements in “Knowledge that saving medical records is helpful” (p=0.006) and “Knowledge of ‘S’” (Surgical histories) in the list of GROUPS records (p=0.002), but statistical significance was not observed for these pre and post score differences. Two categorical variables were statistically significant: sex for knowing “R” (Relatives with cancer) (p<0.001); females knew more than men about their relatives with cancer and age at time of survey for overall score (p=0.001); participants 50 years or older showed greater overall improvement than those younger than 50; indicating these variables did influence participants’ scores. An overall score improvement of 14.2% was observed across study participants. The largest improvement (38%) was confidence in knowing which records to save after a cancer diagnosis. Participants felt the video was helpful (89%), the GROUPS checklist was useful (89%), and 92% felt motivated to find and save the recommended documents.