March 18-20, 1999 |
Patients are often confused and intimidated trying to understand their diagnoses and treatment options; as such, treatment adherence may be compromised. While other interventions have focused on communication skills for physicians, Tell-A-Docan integrated, multi-media education systemcoaches patients to obtain salient medical information. The system includes print, video, and integrated voice response (IVR) tools, and is tailored to low-income, low-literate, and Spanish-speaking consumers. Created under an AHCPR-SBIR contract, Tell-A-Doc is rooted in past research and on our own qualitative research that informs the development and evaluation of these linguistically and culturally appropriate tools. Limited literacy skills of almost half of U.S. adults demand that communication training be carefully designed to be "low-barrier." Moreover, providing information in several formats increases accessibility and retention, since messages are reinforced and media approaches match different learning styles. Print products include: 1) posters and lapel buttons with the message "it doesn't hurt to ask;" 2) coaching cards with suggested questions to ask doctors; and 3) tailored postcard reminders of questions consumers heard on the IVR program. The video was designed to catch people's attention as they walk through or wait in a clinical waiting room. It features about 20 brief, advertisement-like spots that either can stand alone or be viewed as a coherent series. The IVR system capitalizes on its interactive features. It invites listeners to navigate program modules according to their interests, and to experiment with possible outcomes of questions they might ask and answers they might give when visiting their doctors. The Technology Games will begin at 6:30
p.m., Thursday, March 18 and end Saturday, March 20 at 10:45 a.m.
The Abacus Group
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Return to Technology Games Participants Contact: games99@health.org Updated: 04/02/01 |