Real-world effectiveness of a social-psychological intervention translated from controlled trials to classrooms.

Social-psychological interventions have raised the learning and performance of students in rigorous efficacy trials. Yet, after they are distributed "in the wild" for students to self-administer, there has been little research following up on their translational effectiveness. We used cutting-edge educational technology to tailor, scale up, and track a previously-validated Strategic Resource Use intervention among 12,065 college students in 14 STEM and Economics classes.

A Novel Health Information Technology Communication System to Increase Caregiver Activation in the Context of Hospital-Based Pediatric Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Pilot Study.

Background: Pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), commonly referred to as blood and marrow transplantation (BMT), is an intense treatment modality that requires the involvement of engaged caregivers during the patient's (child's) prolonged hospitalization. The ubiquity of electronic health records (EHRs) and a trend toward patient-centered care could allow a novel health information technology (IT) system to increase parental engagement. The paucity of research on acute care, hospital-based (inpatient) health IT applications for patients or caregivers provides an opportunity for testing the feasibility of such applications.

User-Centered Design Groups to Engage Patients and Caregivers with a Personalized Health Information Technology Tool.

Health information technology (IT) has opened exciting avenues for capturing, delivering and sharing data, and offers the potential to develop cost-effective, patient-focused applications. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of health IT applications such as outpatient portals. Rigorous evaluation is fundamental to ensure effectiveness and sustainability, as resistance to more widespread adoption of outpatient portals may be due to lack of user friendliness.

Exploring the "active ingredients" of an online smoking intervention: a randomized factorial trial.

Introduction: Research needs to systematically identify which components increase online intervention effectiveness (i.e., active ingredients).

The effect of program design on engagement with an internet-based smoking intervention: randomized factorial trial.

Background: Participant engagement influences treatment effectiveness, but it is unknown which intervention design features increase treatment engagement for online smoking cessation programs.

Objective: We explored the effects of 4 design features (ie, factors) on early engagement with an Internet-based, motivational smoking cessation program.

Methods: Smokers (N=1865) were recruited from a large health care organization to participate in an online intervention study, regardless of their interest in quitting smoking.

OMG do not say LOL: obese adolescents' perspectives on the content of text messages to enhance weight loss efforts.

Adolescents participating in weight loss programs experience difficulty adhering to behavior change recommendations. Communications technology provides a low cost means to increase the frequency of contact with adolescents which can improve their engagement and also lead to behavior change. Within a larger project on the development of tailored text messages for adolescents enrolled in an existing multidisciplinary weight management program, this study explored participants' perspectives about message content.

Adapting an in-person patient-caregiver communication intervention to a tailored web-based format.

Background: Interventions that target cancer patients and their caregivers have been shown to improve patient-caregiver communication, support, and emotional well-being.

Objective: To adapt an in-person communication intervention for cancer patients and caregivers to a web-based format, and to examine the usability and acceptability of the web-based program among representative users.

Methods: A tailored, interactive web-based communication program for cancer patients and their family caregivers was developed based on an existing in-person, nurse-delivered intervention.

The distinct role of comparative risk perceptions in a breast cancer prevention program.

Background: Comparative risk perceptions may rival other types of information in terms of effects on health behavior decisions.

Purpose: We examined associations between comparative risk perceptions, affect, and behavior while controlling for absolute risk perceptions and actual risk.

Methods: Women at an increased risk of breast cancer participated in a program to learn about tamoxifen which can reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Testing whether decision aids introduce cognitive biases: results of a randomized trial.

Objective: Women at high risk of breast cancer face a difficult decision whether to take medications like tamoxifen to prevent a first breast cancer diagnosis. Decision aids (DAs) offer a promising method of helping them make this decision. But concern lingers that DAs might introduce cognitive biases.

Women's decisions regarding tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention: responses to a tailored decision aid.

Tamoxifen reduces primary breast cancer incidence, yet causes serious side effects. To date, few women with increased breast cancer risk have elected to use tamoxifen for chemoprevention. The objective of the study was to determine women's knowledge of and attitudes toward tamoxifen following exposure to a tailored decision aid (DA).

Communicating side effect risks in a tamoxifen prophylaxis decision aid: the debiasing influence of pictographs.

Objective: To experimentally test whether using pictographs (image matrices), incremental risk formats, and varied risk denominators would influence perceptions and comprehension of side effect risks in an online decision aid about prophylactic use of tamoxifen to prevent primary breast cancers.

Methods: We recruited 631 women with elevated breast cancer risk from two healthcare organizations. Participants saw tailored estimates of the risks of 5 side effects: endometrial cancer, blood clotting, cataracts, hormonal symptoms, and sexual problems.

Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence.

Communications of treatment risk, such as medication package inserts, commonly report total rates of adverse reactions (e.g., 4% get heartburn with placebo, 9% with medication).

Measuring numeracy without a math test: development of the Subjective Numeracy Scale.

Background: Basic numeracy skills are necessary before patients can understand the risks of medical treatments. Previous research has used objective measures, similar to mathematics tests, to evaluate numeracy.

Objectives: To design a subjective measure (i.

Deaf persons and computer use.

Deaf person's computer use was studied (N = 227). Respondents self-administered a survey in their preferred language (voice, American Sign Language, captions, or printed English). A small nonparticipant sample was also recruited.

Adolescents searching for health information on the Internet: an observational study.

Background: Adolescents' access to health information on the Internet is partly a function of their ability to search for and find answers to their health-related questions. Adolescents may have unique health and computer literacy needs. Although many surveys, interviews, and focus groups have been utilized to understand the information-seeking and information-retrieval behavior of adolescents looking for health information online, we were unable to locate observations of individual adolescents that have been conducted in this context.

The development of an Alzheimer's disease channel for the Michigan Interactive Health Kiosk Project.

The overall objective of this article is to describe the development and implementation of an Alzheimer's disease (AD) module for the Michigan Interactive Health Kiosk Project. This project provides access to health information via 100 kiosks located in public places throughout the state (e.g.

Tailored interventions for multiple risk behaviors.

The prevention and management of chronic disease necessitates the effective treatment of health risk behaviors. Evaluating methods for maximizing change among individuals with a combination of these behaviors is an area of continued research. The University of Michigan's Health Media Research Laboratory, in collaboration with the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), is testing a computer-based tailored print material intervention and complementary telecounseling intervention among individuals served by the HFHS.