Development and Evaluation of an Interactive CD-ROM Refusal Skills Program to Prevent Youth Substance Use: “Refuse to Use”

An interactive CD-ROM program designed to reduce adolescent substance use was developed and evaluated. The program uses video vignettes to teach refusal skills and socially acceptable responses to substance use situations, specifically offers of marijuana. In a randomized pretest-to-posttest experiment with 74 public school students from six classes in three high schools, significant changes were observed at posttest on (1) the adolescent's personal efficacy to refuse the offer of marijuana, (2) the adolescent's intention to refuse marijuana if offered, and (3) the adolescent's perceptions of the social norms associated with substance use and the importance of respecting another's decision to refuse a drug offer. In addition, adolescents in the treatment condition were able to recall approximately 50% of the portrayed refusal strategies. Findings are discussed with regard to the potential benefits of an interactive multimedia approach for conducting substance use interventions.     

Transition from Film to Electronic Media in the First-Year Medical School Gross Anatomy Lab

For the benefit of the first-year gross anatomy students, we digitized and published on a Web site images that had been collected over a 30-year period. We provided a CD-ROM (compact disk, read-only media) containing the image set in higher quality format to students and faculty. We supplemented basic images with hot topics such as CT angiography, virtual colonography, computer-aided diagnosis, and 3D post-processing. Full motion video and moving JPEG (Joint Photo Expert Group) animations were integrated into the atlas. On the post course questionnaire medical students reported that the images on CD-ROM were helpful during the course and for review prior to examinations. Faculty and medical students used the CD-ROM for problem-based learning sections and facilitator training. The images were clear and easily projected during review sessions and were useful for the small group sessions, where they served as examples of normal anatomy.     

A multimedia psychosocial support program for couples receiving infertility treatment: a feasibility study

OBJECTIVE: To develop and test the feasibility of a theory-driven, psychosocial support CD-ROM prototype for couples in infertility treatment. DESIGN: Focus group meetings with reproductive health experts, semistructured interviews with infertility patients, and content analysis of an infertility message board to determine content domains of the CD-ROM. Usability and acceptance testing of prototype CD-ROM based on predetermined feasibility criteria. SETTING: Private offices and fertility centers. PATIENT(S): Expert panel of 5 reproductive health specialists; interviews with 62 individuals with infertility (35 women, 27 men); feasibility study with 12 patients and 12 experts in reproductive medicine and infertility support. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Product usability/acceptance test. RESULT(S): Participant feedback and content analysis informed the development of a prototype patient education CD-ROM that uses audio, video, interactive tasks, and personalized feedback. Over 80% of participants successfully completed usability tasks, and over 90% rated prototype satisfaction as "good" to "excellent." Some areas were noted for improvement in navigation and refinement in delivery of instructions. Results strongly indicate an interest in an infertility multimedia support tool. CONCLUSION(S): Multimedia methods may serve as an effective, innovative psychosocial intervention for infertility patients and overcome barriers of limited local access to educational and support services.     

利用POPLINE光盘检索为计划生育生殖健康服务

介绍在人口、计划生育和有关健康问题领域的唯一信息源——POPLINE光盘。它包含了计划生育技术、计划生育规划、生殖、人口法规和政策、统计学、爱滋病与其它性传播性疾病、母婴健康、主要健康护理信息和人口与环境等九大内容。收集了遍于全世界发达国家和发展中国家几千种书、杂志、报告和各种发表或未发表的文件。人口、计划生育、医学专业的研究人员、服务人员和政府的决策者都可通过POPLINE得到最新最多的研究动态和科研资料,有助于领导的决策、科研项目的制订和鉴定,也可帮助科研人员申请课题、撰写论文。本文还介绍了通过关键词或句子检索和通过杂志、年代、作者等特定内容检索的二种检索模式和检索中的注意事项。通过比较POPLINE和MEDLINE二种光盘在计划生育、生殖健康等方面内容和检索方法,阐述了POPLINE在计划生育、生殖健康检索信息的特殊优点。     

Effect of Digital Nutrition Education Intervention on the Nutritional Knowledge Levels of Information Technology Professionals

The purpose of the study was to determine the changes in knowledge of information technology (IT) professionals after receiving a nutrition education intervention for a month. The sample comprised of 40 IT professionals (29 males and 11 females). The sample was drawn from four IT companies of Hyderabad city using random sampling techniques. The data on the general information of the subjects was collected. The data regarding the commonly accessed sources of nutrition and health information by the subjects was also obtained from the study. The intervention study group received nutrition education by distribution of the developed CD-ROMs to them followed by interactive sessions. To assess the impact of nutrition education intervention, the knowledge assessment questionnaire (KAQ) was developed and administered before and after the education programme. A significant improvement in the mean nutritional knowledge scores was observed among the total study subjects from 22.30 to 40.55 after the intervention (p < 0.05). The findings support the importance of providing professionals with nutrition knowledge to promote healthy dietary behaviors.Thus, the method of e-learning and development of CD-Rom is essential for teaching the educated groups on nutrition, physical activity and overall health education to improve their health, lifestyle and eating habits.     

Parent Training via CD-ROM: Using Technology to Disseminate Effective Prevention Practices

Family-based prevention programs have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing risk factors for substance abuse. The lack of efficient methods for training staff and insuring treatment integrity and the limited time that program progenitors have for dissemination impede the spread of these programs. Additionally, there are barriers to families who use these programs such as stigma associated with a parent education or mental health approach, transportation and access difficulties, and inability to commit to months of treatment sessions. New developments in technology can surmount most of these barriers. The author describes a video-based interactive CD-ROM for training parents and families in child management and relationship enhancement skills. The program's development was based on two premises which are well-supported in the literature. One premise is that interactive videodisk programs increase knowledge and performance more efficiently than do standard methods of instruction. The other is that videotaped modeling of parenting skills is as effective in producing improvements in child behavior as are parent education discussion groups and parent training with a therapist. The CD-ROM program is self-administered, highly interactive, and brief, requiring no trained staff for its delivery. Users receives feedback about their choices from the computer, not a person, thus minimizing defensiveness. Controlled evaluations show improvements in knowledge and parenting skills, and reductions in child behavior problems. Many teens moved from the clinical range of behavior problems to the normal range after their mothers used the program. Replication efforts by service providers and universities are underway due to the program's ease of implementation and evaluation. Gaps in knowledge about this approach include general long-term effects, and, more specifically, how the program will affect ethnically diverse populations, how repetition and use by other family members affects outcomes, and how to overcome mental health professionals' resistance to the technology. Prevention practice can be improved with this approach since it can be disseminated relatively quickly and inexpensively, with very high treatment integrity. The convenience and lack of stigma can increase participation by parents prior to their becoming distressed by their children's behavior problems. Existing programs can incorporate and evaluate CD-ROM parent training, while new efforts will be encouraged by such an inexpensive program. Program changes, based upon research feedback, can be incorporated rapidly without the difficulty of retraining program staff.     

Development of the polysomnographic database on CD-ROM

We have developed a polysomnographic database on CD-ROM. The data were obtained from 16 subjects with sleep apnea syndrome. The physiological signals include electroencephalogram, electromyogram, electrooculogram, invasive blood pressure, respiratory wave, oxygen saturation, and cardiac volume as measured by VEST method. The CD-ROM also include programs to analyze polysomnography (PSG) data. The CD-ROM has values: (i) for researchers investigating clinical physiology or non-linear dynamics during sleep apnea syndrome; (ii) for engineers developing a new algorithm for the computerized analysis of PSG data related to sleep apnea syndrome; (iii) for students learning sleep physiology.     

军队飞行人员纸质病案电子化管理的分析与探讨

目的针对军队飞行人员纸质病案管理存在的主要问题,提出解决纸质病案电子化管理的解决方案。方法通过调研、检索及走访,了解军队飞行人员病案的特殊性、现病案管理存在的问题及国（军）内外病案电子化进程情况。结果当前军队飞行人员纸质病案亟待通过建库、纸质扫描、建索引及加密处理完成电子化管理。结论军队飞行人员原始病案资料得到安全有效保护,病案信息实现共享并方便调用。另对电子化技术手段的选择进行了讨论。