In most parts of the world, microscopy is still the gold standard for diagnosing malaria. An online tool could help to improve your diagnostic skills
An online tool allows microscopists to test their ...knowledge
Interactive Multimedia and Risk Communication Strecher, Victor J; Greenwood, Todd; Wang, Catharine ...
Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs,
01/1999, Letnik:
1999, Številka:
25
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
As our understanding of risk factors and their interaction with individual susceptibility
to disease improves, general messages designed to communicate risk seem increasingly
ineffective and often ...misleading. Risk messages communicated through the mass media cannot
convey an individual's personal susceptibility to preventable diseases or the seriousness of
these diseases. The advent of new media technologies allows us to better reach the public with
programs tailored to the needs and interests of individual users. Although similar in outward
appearance to mass media, programs delivered through the Internet, CD-ROM, and computer
kiosks offer the potential for vastly improved efficacy in communicating risk. This paper outlines
the potential uses of interactive multimedia within the traditional goals of risk communication. A
significant research endeavor, coupled with stronger avenues for dissemination, is recommended
to achieve the potential of new media in a timely manner.
Rationale Patients concerned about a family history of breast cancer can face difficult decisions about screening, prophylactic surgery and genetic testing. Decision aids can facilitate patient ...decision making and currently include leaflets and computerized tools. These are largely aimed at the North American market. However, no decision aids concerning familial breast cancer exist in the UK.
Methods Focus groups were held with 39 women over 18 years of age referred to a cancer genetics clinic, and who had been given a risk assessment for developing breast cancer. Each focus group examined three existing North American decision aids (1 paper‐based and 2 CD‐ROMs) and explored what a decision aid in a UK context should look like and the information it should contain.
Results There was enthusiasm for the development of decision aids that suit the local context in terms of its health care policy, in paper‐based and CD‐ROM formats. This paper identifies areas of agreement and disagreement in terms of both content and presentation styles, and also reports some of the suggestions received about where, when and with whom decision aids should be used. Participants suggested that decision aids would be most effective when they allowed a user‐selected range of formats.
Conclusion There is still significant unmet demand for information and decision support in the context of publicly funded health care. The patient perspective provides a unique insight into issues of design, style and communication.
Participants were 65 parents of 6- to 18-month-old children presenting for a well child checkup between September 2002 and February 2003 to one of two private pediatric offices. The intervention was ...a 30-minute multimedia program, Play Nicely, viewed at home, which teaches the basics in childhood aggression management. One year after intervention, parents were asked, “Do you feel that the CD program was helpful in managing aggressive behavior in your child?” Most (65%) parents who watched the program agreed that it helped them manage aggression with their own child (strongly agree, 31%; agree, 34%; uncertain, 28%; disagree, 7%; and strongly disagree, 0%). An inexpensive, brief, independently viewed, multimedia program helps parents manage aggression in their young children as long as 1 year after receiving it from their pediatrician. An easily implemented intervention may contribute to violence prevention efforts.
This study assessed the influence of a developmentally specific CD-ROM intervention on cognitive appraisals, fear, behavioral distress, and pain in pediatric hematology-oncology patients scheduled ...for intravenous (IV) procedures. Thirty children, 7 to 18 years of age, were randomly assigned either to a standard medical care group or a standard medical care plus CD-ROM intervention group. It was hypothesized that using the CD-ROM would decrease threat appraisals of the IV procedure, causing decreased fear of the IV, less behavioral distress, and less pain during the IV. It was also hypothesized that intervention-enhanced secondary appraisal would be seen in children in the CD-ROM intervention group and that they would cope more effectively with the IV procedure. Self-report and observational ratings were used to assess the following dependent variables: primary and secondary appraisal, fear, behavioral distress, and pain. Results indicated significant effects for the reduction of threat appraisals following CD-ROM intervention (p ??.05). Children in the CD-ROM intervention group used cognitive restructuring coping more effectively than did the control group (p ??.05). No significant effects were found for fear, behavioral distress, or pain.
The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) maintains and distributes the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence database, Europe's primary nucleotide sequence data resource. The EBI also maintains and distributes ...the SWISS-PROT Protein Sequence database, in collaboration with Amos Bairoch of the University of Geneva. Over fifty additional specialist molecular biology databases, as well as software and documentation of interest to molecular biologists are available. The EBI network services include database searching and sequence similarity searching facilities.
This study aimed to develop a multimedia video CD (VCD) of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and test its effects on pain knowledge and pain relief in patients receiving surgery. This multimedia VCD ...of PCA was created to convey fundamental knowledge to both patients and their family members and help patients properly utilize PCA devices to relieve pain and improve recovery. The content of multimedia VCD of PCA included pre-admission pain education, introduction of PCA, nursing care procedures, and questions and answers.
This study used a quasi-experimental research design to test effects of the multimedia education program in the experimental group of 30 subjects compared to the control subjects of equal number (without the multimedia VCD of PCA).
(1) The intervention of multimedia VCD of PCA resulted in a statistically significant difference in pain knowledge between the experimental and control groups. (2) Subjects in the experimental group obtained a better outcome of pain relief compared to control subjects. (3) Subjects in the experimental group indicated that the multimedia VCD of PCA indeed helped them effectively operate their PCA devices to relieve surgery pain.
The clinical application of the multimedia VCD of PCA could help patients improve knowledge on pain, learn how to use PCA devices, achieve proper pain relief, and increase effectiveness of recovery activities.
There are relatively few comprehensive and empowering educational tools to assist people with terminal illness in addressing important end-of-life issues. Identifying this scarcity, a design team of ...health and multimedia professionals created an interactive, educational CD-ROM entitled Completing a Life. The primary goal of the project was to provide rich content in a style that was easy to access, understand, and use. The interactive medium of the CD-ROM enabled a large amount and wide array of material to be presented in manageable segments. These segments are connected by hyperlinks, providing self-guided control over the selection, pace, and order of material. The CD puts the learning experience in the hands of the learner. The format and design is also intended to generate a sense of empowerment, at a time and around issues often associated with a loss of control. Completing a Life covers a wide range of information for the user to choose from, spanning physical, emotional, family, and spiritual issues. A calm and comforting tone and welcoming environment enhances the users' ability to take in the information and make proactive decisions about his/her own well-being and care. The CD contains video narratives of individuals who tell their own stories of living with terminal illness. In addition to being a highly relevant means of conveying sensitive, health-related information, this collection of personal interviews may offer a form of "virtual support group" for the user. Finally, the interactive format allows stories and informational content to be linked in topic-specific ways that complement one another.
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