Mobile Commons, Sanofi US and the Prostate Cancer Foundation have teamed up to improve understanding and provide encouragement to advanced prostate cancer patients through a new one-way text messaging program called PROST8CARE.
Developed by a board of oncologists and oncology nurses, the program sends text messages to patients timed to coincide with each individual patient's chemotherapy treatment cycle. These messages will provide patients with information intended to help them understand their condition and course of treatment, while reinforcing the facts given to them by healthcare professionals.
Additionally, messages will offer tips on how to deal with certain types of side effects and present food recommendations.
“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with 1 in 6 facing a prostate cancer diagnosis in his lifetime and 241,740 new cases reported in 2012 alone,” Howard Soule, chief scientific officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, said in a statement. “Through PROST8CARE, we are helping those coping with advanced stages of the disease through text messages timed to coincide with their chemotherapy treatment cycles.”
Since mostly everyone seems to have access to mobile communication, Jed Alpert, CEO and cofounder of Mobile Commons, says it is an effective way to distribute health information.
“Text messaging is becoming a vital tool for healthcare providers because it can deliver information in a way that’s easy and convenient for some patients to access,” Alpert said in a statement. “The goal of PROST8CARE is to encourage patients and educate them, and facilitate productive conversations with their physicians throughout the course of their treatment. And because 95 percent of Americans with chronic diseases have access to texting, this may be an effective way to reach these patients.”
While there is no cost for patients to enroll in the PROST8CARE program, there may be standard text and data rate charges. Upon enrollment, patients will start receiving text messages within one week.
Edited by
Braden Becker
