Recommended Resources for Cancer Patients: Transitioning from Paper Pathfinders to LibGuides

In 2015, The Learning Center, a consumer health library at MD Anderson Cancer Center, embarked on a project to translate paper pathfinders into online Recommended Resources in Springshare’s LibGuides platform. This project was successfully undertaken by a small staff of librarians and health education specialists with a range of technical skills and allowed online access to resources available both online and in The Learning Center. This article briefly addresses the activities and decisions leading up to the adoption of LibGuides, outlines the process of creating more than 40 online Recommended Resources, and describes the outcomes to date.     

Contributions of public health to patient compliance

This paper discusses the contributions of public health to compliance in five areas: clinical trials, smoking cessation, dietary compliance, breast cancer screening and hypertension control. Public health programs have been based on a number of theoretical foundations, most notably, social learning theory and the health belief model. Social marketing, community organization, and, more recently, consumer information processing models also are important. The strongest public health programs embody an ecological approach, with interventions directed not only at individuals, but also at groups, communities and changing institutional norms. Among the most important contributions of public health interventions are: multiple levels of intervention and evaluation, tailoring to target audiences, use of social support and community organization for behavior change. Together, community health and clinical compliance-enhancing strategies can exert a synergistic impact on health behavior change.Barbara K. Rimer is Director, Cancer Control Research, Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Box 2949, Duke Univ. Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; Karen Glanz, Ph.D. is Professor at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122; Caryn Lerman, Ph.D. is Associate Member, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 510 Township Line Road, Cheltenham, PA 19012.Grant support was provided by National Cancer Institute Public Health Service Grant CA34658 and institutional grants awarded to Fox Chase Cancer Center NIH (CA06927 and RR05895) and an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.Word processing was provided by Lisa Salerno and Kathy Smith.     

Free Library of Health: Consumer Health Information,Health Literacy,and Library Programming in Philadelphia

In 2016, the Free Library of Philadelphia reopened the newly renovated South Philadelphia Library. This full-service neighborhood library is co-located with pediatric primary care services, a city-run health center, and a recreation center in a first-of-its-kind facility called the Community Health and Literacy Center. The South Philadelphia Library aims to improve health literacy in the community through the provision of consumer health information and health programming, and the co-location with health care and recreation services provides unique opportunities to partner and offer health-based library services. A community health librarian certified in consumer health information assists customers with accessing reliable health information, and health programming covers many areas of interest. Partnerships with nearby health organizations also allow the library to connect customers with vetted neighborhood services. By combining health services with traditional library programming, customers are able to increase their health literacy when they visit the library.     

VA uses Web to share best practice lessons

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) established the Virtual Learning Center Web site (www.va.gov/vlc) three years ago to facilitate sharing of "informal knowledge" among health care professionals in the VA's medical centers. The site gives all health care organizations free access to benchmarking and best practice data.     

OncoLink

Abstract

OncoLink is the first multimedia cancer information resource on the Internet that offers state of the art, quality information about cancer. Developed at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, OncoLink (http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu) has been online since March 1994. The major goals for OncoLink are to provide quality, original content for cancer patients and health care professionals and to provide well-organized, consistent access to cancer resources on the Internet. It is a free service that is available 24 hours each day to people around the globe.     

Consumer Health Education Center: An Overview of Library Services

This paper provides a brief review of the development and history of the Community Health Education Center (CHEC), a library for patients and their family members over its past 14 years. Over time, CHEC management recognized new patient needs and evolved to meet the needs of its users through a variety of value-added services. This article discusses current services that CHEC offers including reference, business services, and health and wellness programs. Libraries planning to provide consumer health information services to patients and their family members can learn valuable lessons from the history, development, challenges, and services of CHEC.     

The National Cancer Institute's CancerNet

Abstract

The International Cancer Information Center (ICIC) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) provides up-to-date, accurate cancer information through CancerNet, an online service. CancerNet is comprised of a comprehensive knowledge base that includes peer-reviewed statements from Physician Data Query (PDQ); fact sheets, publications, and NCI news; detailed information about ongoing clinical trials; selected information from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute; and CANCERLIT topic searches. This article discusses the role CancerNet plays in providing timely and accurate cancer information to health professionals and consumers.     

Rural hospital health promotion: Programs,methods, resource limitations

Most hospitals provide health promotion programs for community residents. There is little information concerning the specific types of services offered by rural hospitals. A questionnaire was sent to every acute care hospital in Iowa (N=124), including 99 rural hospitals and 25 urban hospitals. Surveys were returned from 95 rural hospitals (96%) and 20 urban hospitals (80%). Results indicated that 98.9% of rural hospitals offered health promotion services to community residents. These services provided on average 7.5 programs on a regular basis, while using only 1.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Urban hospitals provided 9.5 regular programs with 2.4 FTE. The most common types of rural promotion programs were blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, safety and protection programs, diet/nutrition programs, prenatal/maternal health, and breast cancer screening. Over 40% of rural respondents stated that other less common programs, including substance abuse prevention and mental health promotion, were needed but could not be offered because of resource limitations; these types of services were offered more commonly in urban hospitals. Rural hospital health promotion programs are attempting to meet a wide variety of programming needs with limited resources, and attention may be well directed towards finding how best to provide various programs with limited resources to maximize their impact on community health.Michael S. Hendryx is an Associate in the Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Administration and Center for Health Services Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.Supported by a grant from the Department of Iowa Ladies' Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars, through the University of Iowa Cancer Center. The author acknowledges the assistance of Richard DeGowin, M.D., for helpful comments during the course of this study.     

The Youth Work Learning Center: Successes and Lessons Learned

In 1979 the Wisconsin Association of Child Care Workers’ dream to create a center where workers and professors could work together on education programs, certification, and research became a reality when the Child Care Learning Center, now called the Youth Work Learning Center (YWLC), was founded at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Twenty-five years later the center is a primary source of education, training, and research for child and youth care workers in Wisconsin. The author describes the approach developed and the lessons learned.     

Collaborating with Patient Care Units to Provide Consumer Health Information

Abstract

Providing access to information for patients and families is one of the primary knowledge-based functions of a hospital library. To meet this goal, the OSF Saint Francis Medical Center Library and Resource Center has developed a variety of consumer health information services, including a full-time staffed consumer health Resource Library with companion Web sites, as well as developing and supporting two departmental patient libraries. Combining the information resources of both the Resource Library and the Web sites for the Pediatric and Oncology nursing units has enhanced the information available on the overall site and provided an opportunity for collaboration with nursing staff to meet the health information needs of patients and families.     

Comprehensive cancer control initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: an example of participatory innovation diffusion.

Site-specific and risk factor-specific cancer programs can point to impressive accomplishments, but coordination among them often is lacking. The Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is working with state health agency staff and other stakeholders to develop a comprehensive, integrated, nationwide approach to cancer control. The participatory innovation diffusion model may help this complex public health innovation be adopted. The participants in the process identified problematic aspects of the innovation and steps that the division can take to ameliorate these problems before the innovation is implemented.     

现代医院医疗设备计量管理问题的探讨

目的:探讨现代医院计量管理的重要性,确保千万患者的生命安全.方法和结果:分析中山大学肿瘤防治中心计量工作存在的实际问题,藉此机会呼吁国家能进一步健全和发展相关的法制法规.结论:推动医院计量设备的管理上新台阶,从而保证医疗质量,减少医疗纠纷,保障人民群众的生命和健康.     

Alliance strengthens care

When hospital administrators want to fortify the care and programs they provide, what creative vehicles can they initiate? Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC), a 1,000-bed tertiary care center in Orlando, Fla., and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, a 518-bed research facility in Houston, Texas, are establishing a joint alliance that will strengthen the oncology care in central Florida. John Hillenmeyer, chief operating officer and senior vice president of ORMC, describes the structure of the joint venture.     

Health and cancer information seeking practices and preferences in Puerto Rico: creating an evidence base for cancer communication efforts

Effective communication around cancer control requires understanding of population information seeking practices and their cancer-relevant risk behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge. The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) developed by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) provides surveillance of the nation's investment in cancer communication tracking the effects of the changing communication environment on cancer-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UPRCCC), the Puerto Rico Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (PRBRFSS), and the NCI implemented HINTS in Puerto Rico in 2009. In this article we describe the health and cancer information seeking behaviors, sources of information, trust in information sources, and experiences seeking information among the population of Puerto Rico. A total of 639 (603 complete and 36 partially complete) interviews were conducted. Nearly one-third of respondents had ever looked for information about health (32.9%) or about cancer (28.1%). The Internet was the most frequently reported source of information. College educated (odds ratio [OR]?=?7.6) and females (OR?=?2.8) were more likely to seek health information. Similarly, college educated (OR?=?5.4) and females (OR?=?2.0) were more likely to seek cancer information. Only 32.7% of respondents had ever accessed the Internet, and college educated were more likely to use it (OR?=?12.2). Results provide insights into the health and cancer information seeking behaviors and experiences of the population in Puerto Rico and contribute to the evidence base for cancer control planning on the island.     

Measurement of Cancer Health Literacy and Identification of Patients with Limited Cancer Health Literacy

Health literacy is related to a broad range of health outcomes. This study was designed to develop a psychometrically sound instrument designed to measure cancer health literacy along a continuum (CHLT-30), to develop another instrument designed to determine whether a patient has limited cancer health literacy (CHLT-6), and to estimate the prevalence of limited cancer health literacy. The Cancer Health Literacy Study involving 1,306 Black and White cancer patients was conducted between April 2011 and April 2013 in the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and surrounding oncology clinics. A continuous latent variable modeling framework was adopted to dimensionally represent cancer health literacy, whereas discrete latent variable modeling was used to estimate the prevalence rates of limited cancer health literacy. Self confidence about engaging in health decisions was used as the primary outcome in external validation of new instruments. Results from a comprehensive analysis strongly supported the construct validity and reliability of the CHLT-30 and CHLT-6. For both instruments, measurement invariance tests ruled out item/test bias to explain gender and race/ethnicity differences in test scores. The limited cancer health literacy rate was 18%, a subpopulation consisting of overrepresented Black, undereducated, and low-income cancer patients. Overall, the results supported the conclusion that the CHLT-30 accurately measures cancer health literacy along a continuum and that the CHLT-6 efficiently identifies patients with limited cancer health literacy with high accuracy.     

M.D. Anderson, Ball cancer centers focus on research, care, prevention

The folks at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, win first place in this category with their traditionally excellent report. The Cancer Center at Ball Memorial Hospital, Muncie, Ind., receives the second place award with a report that uses unusual design elements to "shatter the myths" about cancer research.     

Peer Reviewed: Wisconsin’s Health Department-University Partnership Model for Comprehensive Cancer Control

Cancer causes substantial morbidity and mortality every year in the United States. To address cancer prevention and control in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and the University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center forged a unique partnership. Using funds from the state legislature, the university, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Control Program was created.This health department–university partnership model has allowed both institutions to contribute their distinct strengths to projects that neither organization would have been able to complete on its own. Some challenges also have arisen during development and execution of the program, but overall, this collaborative partnership has brought diverse groups together to develop and implement evidence-based cancer control programs and policies in Wisconsin.     

A Brief Report Describing Cancer Outreach Events in the Rural Midwest

This brief report describes the findings of seven cancer prevention outreach efforts to rural locations in South Dakota and Minnesota with a specific focus on reaching agriculture workers and their families. The outreach events varied in size from a couple of hundred attendees to over 100,000 attendees. The purpose of these events also varied greatly from county fairs to health fairs. The goal of these outreach efforts was to connect with individuals in their communities in order to provide general cancer prevention and screening education and personalized cancer risk assessments. Methods used included one-on-one conversation between attendees and Avera Cancer Institute Navigation Center (ACINC) navigators as well as intake forms for individuals interested in personalized assessments. Findings showed the need for increased education on vulnerability to cancer and the need for cancer screenings. Moreover, findings indicated that smaller, focused, outreach events have the best outcomes in regards to the number of individuals directly receiving education on cancer screening and prevention.     

Opening of Hillman Cancer Center reaps generous media coverage. UPMC News Bureau enjoys results of ongoing efforts

The new Cancer Institute (UPCI), research facility of the UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) Health System opened in October 2002. Named The Hillman Cancer Center after noted local philanthropists, it provides a natural opportunity for the UPMC Health System News Bureau to continue its educational goals. Extensive media coverage was valued at nearly $300,000.