The Mary Junck Research Colloquium Series

Fall 2008

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School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Megan Lewis & Dr. Lauren McCormack

Senior Research Scientist & Director of the Health Communication Program
Research Triangle Institute

 

 

 

 

Sept. 11

Dr. Lewis

Tailored Health Messages for Couple-based Chronic Illness Management

Tailored health communication has been proven as an effective way to deliver health information and enhance motivation for behavior change for a variety of health behaviors. It has never been used to educate couples about ways to work together to manage health risks. In this research funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, we are developing a tailored health communication intervention for couples managing lupus. We will report of formative work we have done with couples in which one partner has lupus. This work focuses on understanding intra-couple factors that impact chronic illness management and that will underlie the tailored message library to be developed in later phases of this research. This research is consistent with increasing focus on patient-centered care, and family involvement in patient-centered care.

 

Dr. McCormack

Advancing Research Methodology for Measuring and Monitoring Patient-Centered Communication in Cancer Care

This project, sponsored by AHRQ and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through the AHRQ DEcIDE program, will lay the groundwork for creating a measurement and monitoring system that will facilitate ongoing assessment, tracking, and improvement of the various functions of patient-centered communication (PCC) in cancer care. The specific objective is to develop a comprehensive inventory of the domains and subdomains that characterize key functions of PCC. As a foundation for the project, the RTI/Baylor team will use a conceptual framework developed for NCI that defines six functions of PCC in cancer care, which affect cancer outcomes and interact with each other (Epstein, RM, Street RL, 2007). These functions include: fostering healing relationships; exchanging information; responding to patients? emotions; managing uncertainty; making decisions; and enabling patient self-management. The work will be conducted in close consultation with a Technical Expert Panel representing relevant areas of expertise. Ultimately, measures of PCC will enable the development of evidence-based standards for communication-related quality of care and the measurement of patient experiences with care according to those standards.

If you would like additional details or information
about the colloquium series or have any suggestions,
please contact

Sriram "Sri" Kalyanaraman
E-mail: sri@unc.edu
Phone: 919-843-5858