Advantages, Disadvantages, and Lessons Learned in Conducting Telephone Focus Groups to Discuss Biospecimen Research Concerns of Individuals Genetically at Risk for Cancer

Advances in telecommunication technology allow biomedical researchers to explore new, inexpensive opportunities for conducting focus group research. This article reports our experiences using such technology to engage individuals genetically at risk for cancer about biospecimen research. Telephone-based focus groups were conducted with a total of 40 individuals, and participants were asked about their experiences and perceived benefits and limitations of participating in a telephone focus group about biospecimen research. The lessons learned can effectively be applied to other areas of health research. In particular, this method may be most useful to engage individuals who are less apt to speak in public, and/or when there are concerns over privacy if face-to-face discussions methods are used

Barbers Against Prostate Cancer: A Feasibility Study for Prostate Cancer Education in an Urban African American Community

The goal of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of training barbers to deliver a brief culturally and literacy appropriate prostate cancer educational intervention to urban African American men. Eight barbers received training to deliver a 2-month educational intervention in the barbershop and completed pre- and posttest training assessments. The training workshops led to a significant increase in mean prostate cancer knowledge scores among the barbers (60% before vs. 79% after; P \u3c 0.05). The barbers also reported positively on the intervention in terms of satisfaction and relative ease of engaging clients. Training barbers to deliver a prostate cancer educational intervention is a feasible strategy for raising prostate cancer awareness of the disease among a priority population

Health Literacy among Medically Underserved: The Role of Demographic Factors, Social Influence, and Religious Beliefs

The current study examined the sociodemographic and psychosocial variables that predicted being at risk for low health literacy among a population of racially and ethnically diverse patients accessing primary care services at community-based clinics. Participants (N = 416) were aged 50-75 years, currently not up-to-date with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, at average CRC risk, and enrolled in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed at promoting CRC screening. Participants completed a baseline interview that assessed health literacy as measured by Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised, sociodemographic factors, and psychosocial variables (e.g., health beliefs) prior to randomization and receipt of an intervention. Thirty-six percent of the participants were found to be at risk for low health literacy. Sociodemographic and psychosocial variables were assessed as predictors of being at risk for low health literacy using logistic regression. In the final model, predictors were male gender, being from a racial/ethnic minority group, being unable to work, having higher social influence scores, and having higher religious belief scores. These findings suggest several patient characteristics that may be associated with low health literacy, and highlight the importance of supporting all patients through simplified and clear communications and information to improve understanding of CRC screening information

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program

Schematic pedagogy: supporting one child’s learning at home and in a group

In this paper we identify ways in which the learning of very young children can be supported by practitioners developing a schematic pedagogy which focuses on structures of children’s thinking. First we provide a critical overview of relevant literature on schemas and schematic approaches to pedagogy. We then outline an original study undertaken to identify and support the learning of seven young children. Taking one child, whom we call Annie, we illustrate how her attention to the fine detail of elements of her home and group environments as she played, offered strong clues to her pedagogues about her persistent interests (schemas). We show how careful observation by practitioners can be used to understand and support future learning encounters through a schematic pedagogy, and we consider implications of such an approach for practice in toddlers’ early learning

Self-Administered Stress Management Training in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy

Purpose: This study sought to continue research on psychosocial interventions for patients being treated with radiation therapy across multiple centers and to replicate positive findings of a single-center study of patients being treated with chemotherapy. The primary objective of this study was to determine if a stress management intervention was effective in improving quality of life and decreasing psychological distress in patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer. Patients and Methods: A total of 310 patients about to begin radiotherapy treatment were randomly assigned to receive usual care only or self-administered stress management training. Quality-of-life assessments occurred at baseline and for 3 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy treatment. Results: Overall, patients assigned to receive stress management training did not report significantly less psychological distress on the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) Mental Component Summary Scale than did those assigned to usual care. When divided into subgroups based on the SF-36 Mental Component Summary Scale scores immediately after their first radiotherapy treatment, patients with above-average levels of psychological distress (scores ≤ 50) who were randomly assigned to the intervention condition reported significant improvement in their distress compared with those assigned to usual care only on the SF-36 Mental Health Subscale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Conclusion: This study found that self-administered stress management training is effective only in those radiotherapy patients with initially higher levels of psychological distress. Additional research should examine the benefits of stress management training targeted specifically to patients experiencing heightened distress