[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43984-43985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19959]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[60Day-17-17AYG; Docket No. CDC-2017-0071]


Proposed Data Collection Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice with comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part 
of its continuing efforts to reduce public burden and maximize the 
utility of government information, invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or 
continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. This notice invites comment on a proposed 
information collection project titled ``Effective Communication in 
Public Health Emergencies--Developing Community-Centered Tools for 
People with Special Health Care Needs.''

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 20, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2017-
0071 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection Review 
Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted 
without change to Regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on the 
proposed project or to obtain a copy of the information collection plan 
and instruments, contact Leroy A. Richardson, Information Collection 
Review Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton 
Road NE., MS-D74, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; phone: 404-639-7570; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal agencies must obtain approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 
information they conduct or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also requires 
Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, including each new 
proposed collection, each proposed extension of existing collection of 
information, and each reinstatement of previously approved information 
collection before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, we are publishing this notice of a 
proposed data collection as described below.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-
up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services 
to provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, 
install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of 
collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to 
train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of 
information, to search data sources, to complete and review the 
collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.

Proposed Project

    Effective Communication in Public Health Emergencies--Developing 
Community-Centered Tools for People with Special Health Care Needs--
New--Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    Individuals with access and mobility challenges, chronic illness, 
intellectual and developmental disabilities, and other communication 
difficulties require targeted messages before, during, and after 
disasters to ensure that they fully appreciate the risks to their 
health and safety and can take measures to avoid harm. Significant 
research has highlighted the unique information needs for at-risk 
populations in general, as well as more specific populations such as 
minority communities, limited-English proficiency communities, and 
persons with physical or communication disabilities. However, there has 
been minimal translation of this research into practical tools for 
sharing information, nor has the research been extended to the families 
of children and youth with special heath care needs.
    Research has also shown that families and individuals are more 
likely to prepare for emergencies or follow health-related emergency 
directives when the information comes from a health care professional, 
particularly someone engaged in their care. There is very little 
information about the capacity of these trusted sources to reach at-
risk individuals during disasters, or their coordination with 
government risk communication efforts.
    Finally, although social media is used by at-risk populations on a 
daily basis, relatively little is known about how these populations use 
social media during disasters, as the majority of the studies analyzing 
channels used by at-risk populations were completed before the 
widespread use of social media in disasters.
    This study will utilize a multi-tiered, mixed methods approach to 
data collection to study the communication needs of two target 
populations during disasters: Families with children and youth with 
special health care needs (CYSHCN); and individuals with Autism 
Spectrum Disorders, as well as families with children who have Autism 
Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Data collection will consist of surveys, as

[[Page 43985]]

well as focus groups and interviews. For each population, we will 
collect data from (1) families (i.e., parents/caregivers of children 
and adolescents, as well as adolescents themselves) with special health 
care needs and ASD; and (2) the medical, social service and other 
providers who serve them. In addition, we will collect data from 
emergency-response agency representatives and experts in health 
information and communications technology to ask cross-cutting 
questions regarding the use of technology to communicate during 
disasters, and the perspectives and needs of individuals and agencies 
charged with leading disaster response efforts.
    The data resulting from this study will be used to develop specific 
tools, protocols, and message templates that can be used for 
communicating during emergencies and disasters with families with 
CYSHCN and ASD.
    CDC plans to begin the information collection one month after OMB 
approval and continue for twenty two months. Information in 
identifiable form will not be linked to interview responses. No CDC 
staff will participate in the collection of data or otherwise have 
contact with the participants. Drexel will store all the data, and CDC 
will only receive coded and aggregated data so it will not be possible 
to link responses with individual subjects. Data will be treated in a 
secure manner and will not be disclosed, unless otherwise compelled by 
law.
    The total estimated annualized time burden to respondents is 419 
hours.
    This information collection request is a new request and approval 
is requested for 24 months.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                     Number of    Average burden
      Type of respondent            Form name        Number of     responses per   per response    Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)         hours
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Families/Caregivers (CYSHCN)..  CYSHCN Family/               150               1           15/60              38
                                 Caregiver
                                 Survey.
Families/Caregivers (ASD).....  ASD Family/                  200               1           15/60              50
                                 Caregiver
                                 Survey.
Providers (CYSHCN)............  CYSHCN Provider              250               1           15/60              63
                                 Survey.
Providers (ASD)...............  ASD Provider                 150               1           15/60              38
                                 Survey.
Families/Caregivers (CYSHCN)..  CYSHCN Family/                50               1               1              50
                                 Caregiver
                                 Interviews.
Families/Caregivers (ASD).....  ASD Family/                   30               1               1              30
                                 Caregiver
                                 Interviews.
Families/Caregivers (CYSHCN     CYSHCN & ASD                  30               1             1.5              45
 and ASD).                       Family/
                                 Caregiver
                                 Evaluation
                                 Focus Group.
Providers (CYSHCN)............  CYSHCN Provider               20               1             1.5              30
                                 Focus Group.
Providers (ASD)...............  ASD Provider                  10               1             1.5              15
                                 Focus Group.
Emergency Response              Emergency                     10               1             1.5              15
 Organizations.                  Response Focus
                                 Group.
Health IT Professionals.......  Health IT Focus               10               1             1.5              15
                                 Group.
Providers.....................  Provider                      20               1             1.5              30
                                 Evaluation
                                 Focus Group.
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............             419
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Leroy A. Richardson,
Chief, Information Collection Review Office, Office of Scientific 
Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the 
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2017-19959 Filed 9-19-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-18-P