The effects of communication skills training on pediatricians' and parents' communication during "sick child" visits.

This article reports the development and evaluation of a physician-parent communication skills training program designed to improve communication regarding antibiotic prescribing for children. Four pediatricians and 81 parents participated in the study, which involved audiotaping "sick child" office visits and then coding transcripts for evidence of program influence on information seeking, giving, and verifying, as well as relational communication. Parents who received training were more likely to verify information, t(79) = 1.

Evaluation of educational materials on colorectal cancer screening in Appalachian Kentucky.

Introduction: Despite the availability of preventive screening for colorectal cancer, compliance with screening recommendations in Appalachian Kentucky is low. Although there are various cancer education materials available, none focus on Appalachian populations and few on low-literacy populations. The purpose of this study was to assess the type of information needed in written educational materials about colorectal cancer for Appalachian populations in Kentucky.