Carolyn LaPlante

Topics and Sources of Memorable Breast Cancer Messages and Their Impact on Prevention and Detection Behaviors

Often, people are able to recall a message on a particular topic for a long period of time. These memorable messages have the ability to influence behavior when they are recalled from memory long after initial exposure. Knowing the topics and sources of the messages that are remembered about breast cancer can improve the efficacy of future breast cancer outreach. To this end, 359 women completed an online survey about memorable breast cancer messages. Most women (60%) recalled a memorable message, described it, identified its source, and noted whether it had resulted in prevention or detection behaviors. Four categories of message topics emerged: early detection (37.3%), awareness (30.9%), treatment (25.8%), and prevention (6%). Furthermore, five categories of sources of these memorable messages were found: media (35.5%), friends (22.2%), family (21.6%), medical professionals (15.2%), and others (5.5%). The media were a major source of all four topics of messages, although family members, friends, and the medical community were major sources for particular message topics as well. Memorable messages originating from medical professionals were substantially more likely to motivate detection behaviors than prevention behaviors. This research demonstrates that message topic and source both play roles in determining message recall as well as in determining how memorable messages impacted behavior.

A Systematic Review of e-Health Interventions for Physical Activity: An Analysis of Study Design, Intervention Characteristics, and Outcomes

OBJECTIVE This systematic literature review of e-health interventions targeting physical activity (PA) from January 2006 to November 2010 provides an updated and critical picture of the state of e-health as a facilitator for PA interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS A systematic search yielded 31 articles that fit into the inclusion/exclusion criteria, which were analyzed in terms of study design quality, intervention characteristics, and support for e-health in PA interventions. RESULTS The included articles met most of the study design criteria, but many did not isolate e-health technologies or use power analyses to calculate sample sizes. The interventions reflected a variety of technologies, audiences, and methods, and showed consistent use of theoretical frameworks to guide the interventions. Results regarding support for e-healths effectiveness in PA interventions were mixed and cannot provide definite conclusions. Only seven studies used pure control groups, and of those, four demonstrated support for e-health but the others showed no significant differences. The majority of studies using comparison groups showed no significant differences between conditions. No notable patterns emerged among the studies that did show support for e-health. CONCLUSIONS Future research should utilize more rigorous methods that allow for better comparison across studies, such as power analyses, pure control groups, and objective PA measurements, which could lead to more definitive results regarding e-healths effectiveness for PA interventions.

Action tendency emotions evoked by memorable breast cancer messages and their association with prevention and detection behaviors

Memorable messages about breast cancer sent by different sources, such as friends and family members, were analyzed for the action tendency emotions that they evoked. Negative emotions of fear, sadness, and anger, and positive emotions of hope and relief were analyzed for their associations with prevention and detection breast cancer behaviors. Messages that evoked fear were significantly more likely to be associated with detection behaviors, whereas messages that evoked relief were significantly less likely to be associated with detection behaviors than messages that did not evoke these emotions. These results are consistent with control theory and also show that friends and family are important sources of memorable messages about breast cancer.

Memorable Messages for Navigating College Life

This manuscript details an investigation of memorable messages that help students navigate college life using a control theory framework. Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with 61 undergraduate students who recalled a specific memorable message that helped them as they navigated college. Results of this formative study show the majority of participants’ memorable messages were academic, and approximately 70% reported changing their behavior when recalling the message. Findings include categories of messages, challenges and topics, message sources, and changes in behavior and attitudes as a result of recalling the message. Additionally, the authors discuss responses to the study findings by college personnel that highlight the applicability of the research.

Living kidney donor decision making and communication

There is high demand for kidney donors in the United States, and it is widely accepted that living donation is optimal for individuals who need a kidney. Much research has focused on the potential recipient, but little has been studied about the communication and decision making of living kidney donors. Interviews assessed the communication and decision-making processes of 43 kidney donor volunteers. Almost all of the participants were not asked, but instead volunteered, to donate. The majority of donors reported having conversations with the recipient and speaking about their decisions with other individuals in their social networks besides the recipient. Some participants said that they stopped talking to others because of negative feedback. Future research should further examine the communication of donors with non-recipient others and potential methods of training recipients and donors to communicate effectively about the donation process.

Telemedicine: What have we learned?

As the health care industry is facing many challenges and is undergoing extensive change, telemedicine is in the position to address these challenges and be an important part of health cares development. Telemedicine has been used for approximately a half century, in which researchers have explored the different technologies utilized, clinical outcomes, cost benefits, perceptions, and adoption challenges of its use. This paper reviews and summarizes these findings and presents possible future research endeavors. Examining what is known about telemedicine can aid in the development of innovative, sustainable and beneficial health technologies that could positively impact health care delivery and outcomes.

An examination into audience targeting and the use of storytelling or statistical evidence on breast cancer websites.

OBJECTIVE This research sought to address the presence of information targeting low literacy, racially diverse, non-English speaking, and age diverse audiences on breast cancer websites. In addition, this study documented the utilization of evidence strategies, either statistics or storytelling, for these audiences. METHODS This research examined these relationships on 157 breast cancer websites through content analysis. RESULTS Nearly half of websites did not contain any of the elements targeting diverse literacy, racial/ethnic, language, and age audiences. Websites with multiple languages were more likely than monolingual websites to use statistics, and websites with low literacy sections were less likely than others to do so. Websites with ethnic or racial diversity and age diversity were more likely than other websites to use first person storytelling about breast cancer. CONCLUSION Current breast cancer websites demonstrate promising use of targeting specific audiences and employing evidence strategies prescribed as effective by past research, however there is room for improvement. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Tip sheets for incorporating audience targeting, readability, and storytelling should be created for health organizations to use in the process of developing their websites, as these constructs were found only sparingly on the assessed sites.

Student-Generated Protective Behaviors to Avert Severe Harm Due to High-Risk Alcohol Consumption

High-risk alcohol consumption is a significant problem on college campuses that many students see as a rite of passage in their development into adulthood. Developing effective prevention campaigns designed to lessen or avert the risks associated with alcohol consumption entails understanding how students perceive harmful consequences as well as the ways they protect themselves while drinking. This study used survey research to determine what undergraduate students perceived to be the most severe alcohol-related harms and the protective behaviors that they thought would be effective at averting those harms. Results showed that students saw forced sex as the most severe alcohol-related harm, and the most commonly described protective behavior was personal responsibility. Implications of these findings for campus-focused health communication strategists and directions for future research are discussed.

An independent investigation into the deployment of the federal communications commissions' rural health care pilot program.

OBJECTIVE the goal of this study was to provide an independent and objective evaluation of the implementation of the Federal Communications Commissions Rural Health Care Pilot Program. MATERIALS AND METHODS thirty-nine of the programs that were provided funding through this program were interviewed and asked about their project deployment, network planning, and the involvement of their state in implementation. RESULTS RESULTS showed that programs recruited project team members from a variety of fields to fulfill different roles. Network partners were often chosen because they were stakeholders in the outcome of the project and because they had a past working relationship with the grant-receiving programs. In terms of deployment, many programs had made progress in filling out necessary paperwork and were tracking milestones, but had experienced changes since first receiving funding, such as losing participants. Additionally, many encountered challenges that inhibited deployment, such as coping with rule fluctuations. Many of the programs received support from their respective state governments in project development, often through matching funds, but few states were involved in the actual management of projects. CONCLUSIONS as rural healthcare facilities often lack the information technology infrastructure compared with many urban facilities, it is important to understand the implementation process for programs such as the Rural Health Care Pilot Program and to examine what contributes to progress, stagnation, or disintegration. Although the programs reported some success, almost all had encountered challenges that inhibited implementation. A follow-up study is planned to further investigate deployment and determine the implications of Federal Communications Commission funding.