Sharing Knowledge is Key for Climate Disaster Preparedness in Cancer Care

Based on the growing frequency and shifting intensity of wildfires and other climate disasters, “knowledge is power” when it comes to improving outcomes for patients with cancer who may be vulnerable to such events, according to Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH.

Nogueira, scientific director of Health Services Research at the American Cancer Society, spoke with CancerNetwork® about potential institutional solutions for elevating the quality of care for patients with cancer who are exposed to climate disasters such as wildfires. She discussed these measures in the context of a study she published showing that patients who recovered from lung cancer surgery at facilities exposed to wildfires had, on average, longer lengths of stay compared with those who recovered at facilities without wildfire exposure.

Citing institutional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, Nogueira highlighted the importance of different research and medical groups collaborating to prioritize research and spread knowledge related to disaster risk management in the context of cancer care. According to Nogueira, building upon lived experiences from institutions with prior exposure to such climate disasters may help other facilities and patients navigate these situations more optimally.

Transcript:

Incorporating these contextual variables, we have this simplistic, straightforward [conclusion that] staying in the hospital for fewer days is better for the patient. But then you have all these contextual events that are happening around the patient that might mean something different, and maybe staying a little bit longer is better. Incorporating these contextual factors when trying to create or even develop the algorithm that’s going to come up with a number that measures quality of care is important.

Also, in a broader effort for healthcare institutions and research institutions to come together and prioritize this type of research on disaster risk management, we know that disasters are becoming more common. We know that their frequency, their intensity, and their behavior continue to change. The only way that we can figure out what’s going to work and what’s going to improve quality of care and patient outcomes is knowledge. Knowledge is power. We saw how big of a difference this made during the COVID-19 pandemic, where we had all these medical institutions, research [institutions], and other types of professionals coming together and saying, “This doesn’t work. This is one strategy we came up with to deal with this one problem.”

Prioritizing this type of research and understanding that all of us are a patient at some point, that we are all eventually vulnerable, [is important]. How can we better protect this entire population who is eventually going to need healthcare services? Also, how [do we] integrate lived experiences, these lessons learned from facilities that have gone through something like this previously and find a better way of sharing that knowledge so that the next facility and the next patient population that gets impacted doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel or suffer the same consequences just because we weren’t able to share that knowledge.

Reference

Nogueira LM, Yabroff KR, Yates E, Shultz JM, Valdez RB, Nori-Sarma A. Facility exposure to wildfire disasters and hospital length of stay following lung cancer surgery. JNCI. Published online March 11, 2025. doi:10.1093/jnci/djaf040