Effect of different forms of information produced for cancer patients on their use of the information, social support, and anxiety: randomised trial.

Objective: To explore the hypothesis that different methods of selecting and printing information for cancer patients could improve emotional support by affecting interaction with others, and so lead to improved psychological wellbeing.

Design: Randomised trial with eight groups (three factors, 2x2x2). Data collected at recruitment and three month follow-up.

How should we evaluate patient access to their own records? An example with cancer patients in Scotland.

Government policy in many European countries now assumes that patients should have access to their own medical records. Increasingly such access can be used as one method of tailoring a wide range of information to the patient. Process evaluation, to ensure that human computer interfaces of such systems are appropriate, is needed during their design and implementation.

Patient information systems that tailor to the individual.

The potential of computers in patient education has been well described by Skinner et al. One of their recommendations was for more personalized systems. In this article we discuss how computer-based patient information systems can provide material that is tailored to the individual, giving a number of examples of systems developed in Scotland.