Mobile health-based approaches for smoking cessation resources.

Purpose/objectives: To describe how the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS) smoking-related resources on a mobile health (mHealth) platform were integrated into the workflow of RNs in advanced practice nurse (APN) training and to examine awareness and use of CIS resources and nurses' perceptions of the usefulness of those CIS resources.

Design: Descriptive analyses.

Setting: Acute and primary care sites affiliated with the School of Nursing at Columbia University.

Responding to a significant recruitment challenge within three nationwide psychoeducational trials for cancer patients.

Purpose: When faced with a significant recruitment challenge for three nationwide psychoeducational trials targeting prostate and breast cancer patients, the Cancer Information Service Research Consortium initiated outreach efforts to increase accrual. Recruitment is reported by major outreach strategy to inform the use of similar campaigns, either as primary recruitment efforts or to supplement "in-reach" recruitment within oncology settings.

Methods: During a 33-month period, recruitment was tracked from the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS), the American Cancer Society (ACS), Dr.

Cancer patient and survivor research from the cancer information service research consortium: a preview of three large randomized trials and initial lessons learned.

The authors describe 3 large randomized trials from the Cancer Information Service Research Consortium. Three web-based multimedia programs are being tested to help newly diagnosed prostate (Project 1) and breast cancer patients (Project 2) make informed treatment decisions and breast cancer patients prepare for life after treatment (Project 3). Project 3 also tests a telephone callback intervention delivered by a cancer information specialist.

Milestones in mission: the work of the American Cancer Society's mission delivery.

Since its founding in 1913, the American Cancer Society (the Society) has played a prominent role in the fight against cancer. Through its presence in over 5,000 communities around the nation, the Society has explored and pursued innovative ideas, searched for breakthroughs, and pushed to have the nation understand the complexities of the disease. Ongoing assessment of the cancer problem, thoughtful strategic planning, and promotion of evidence-based cancer control programs are integral to the Society's mission.

Patient-centered communication in cancer care: the role of the NCI's Cancer Information Service.

While patient-centered care and the reduction of suffering due to cancer are primary goals of the NCI, improvement in the delivery of patient-centered communication has been identified as a key NCI research priority. As research on patient-centered communication evolves, the potential contributions of programs such as the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Information Service (CIS) cannot be overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the six core functions of patient-clinician communication described in the literature (fostering healing relationships, exchanging information, responding to emotions, managing uncertainty, making decisions and enabling patient-self management) are embedded in the work of the CIS.

The NCI's Cancer Information Service Staff Training Program: a foundation for excellence.

The philosophy of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Information Service (CIS) staff training program is based on the premise that a solid relationship exists between staff performance and training. As a leading edge organization and the premiere cancer information service in the world, the CIS provides more training to its staff than many organizations. This factor is in part responsible for the program's success over the past 30 years, during which time the staff training program was revised to reflect a more comprehensive, performance-based approach.

Future directions for the cancer information service and cancer education.

From its beginnings in the 1970s, the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Cancer Information Service (CIS) has developed as a vibrant program for providing health care professionals and the public with relevant cancer-related information through telephone, mail, and online communication. The CIS has become an important contributor to health communication and health education research. Through its network of community partnerships, it has disseminated relevant cancer information and health promotion programs to vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations.

The NCI Digital Divide Pilot Projects: implications for cancer education.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) supported four innovative demonstration research projects, "The Digital Divide Pilot Projects," to test new strategies for disseminating health information via computer to vulnerable consumers. These projects involved active research collaborations between the NCI's Cancer Information Service (CIS) and regional cancer control researchers to field test new approaches for enhancing cancer communication in vulnerable communities. The projects were able to use computers to successfully disseminate relevant cancer information to vulnerable populations.

Raising awareness of on-line cancer information: helping providers empower patients.

While the digital divide remains a special problem in health care, providers' reluctance to refer patients to the Internet is an equally important problem. The Bridging the Digital Divide Project: Your Access to Cancer Information was designed with two target audiences in mind-consumers and health care providers. A total of 256 providers from varied health care settings enrolled in workshops over a 10-month period (2001-2002).

Multiple tailored messages are effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among callers to the Cancer Information Service.

Results are reported from a large (n = 3,402) four-group randomized trial to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among callers to the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Cancer Information Service (CIS) using tailored print materials. Following a baseline telephone interview, which included a brief educational message (BEM), participants were assigned randomly within CIS offices to one of four groups: single untailored (SU) group-one untailored set of materials; single tailored (ST) group-one tailored booklet; multiple tailored (MT) group-four tailored materials; and multiple retailored (MRT) group-four tailored materials with retailoring based on new information obtained at 5 months follow-up. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted at 5 (n = 2,233) and 12 months (n = 1,927) after baseline.