Empowering Patients and Community Online: Evaluation of the AIDS Community Information Outreach Program.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dancy-Scott N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4851435 | biostudies-literature | 2014
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Empowering Patients and Community Online: Evaluation of the AIDS Community Information Outreach Program.
Dancy-Scott Nicole N Rockoff Maxine L ML Dutcher Gale A GA Keselman Alla A Schnall Rebecca R Siegel Elliot R ER Bakken Suzanne S
Information services & use 20140101 1-2
The AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP) was created in 1994 to assist the affected community in utilizing electronic HIV/AIDS information resources. Nearly 300 competitive awards have been made to mostly community-based organizations. A formal evaluation was undertaken to determine the performance and impact of the ACIOP. A mixed methods design combined quantitative abstractions and summarization of 47 awardee final reports from 44 organizations, and qualitative telephone intervi ...[more]
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Project description:ObjectiveThe paper provides an overview of the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) AIDS Community Information Outreach Program during the years 1994 to 2005, discusses the impact of previously funded projects, and explores future implications for HIV/AIDS information outreach to communities in need.MethodsA qualitative assessment was conducted to provide information on the impact of projects funded by the AIDS Community Information Outreach Program during fiscal year 2002. Interviews were conducted and final reports were analyzed, resulting in themes based on roles and responsibilities of participants and the impact of the projects in the communities.ResultsResults from the assessment suggest that access to HIV/AIDS information led to improved communication between patients and their health care providers and encouraged better health care decision making. Feedback from reports and interviews included examples of impact such as an increase in services provided to communities, national and global recognition of HIV/AIDS services, sustainability of projects, and improved communication.ConclusionCommunity-based health information outreach projects may empower the HIV/AIDS community to become more involved in health care and improve communication with providers. NLM will continue to promote the AIDS Community Information Outreach Program to encourage community organizations to design local projects for their specific communities.
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Project description:With funding from the National Library of Medicine HIV/AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP), librarians at the University of Florida Health Sciences Libraries partnered with university and community groups to facilitate collaboration, develop new information resources, develop information-seeking skills, and raise general awareness surrounding HIV/AIDS risks, prevention, and treatment. This article describes the skills development elements of the project, including development and implementation of an HIV/AIDS information resource curriculum for health care providers, social services professionals, and public librarians within the project's partner organizations.
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Project description:Convincing evidence of the effectiveness of health information outreach projects is essential to ensure their continuity. This paper reviews the current state of health information outreach evaluation, characterizes strengths and weaknesses in projects' ability to measure their impact, and assesses enablers of and barriers to projects' success. It also relates the projects' characteristics to evaluation practices. The paper then makes recommendations for strengthening evaluation.Upon conducting a literature search, the authors identified thirty-three articles describing consumer health information outreach programs, published between 2000 and 2010. We then analyzed the outreach projects with respect to their goals and characteristics, evaluation methods and measures, and reported outcomes.The results uncovered great variation in the quality of evaluation methods, outcome measures, and reporting. Outcome measures did not always match project objectives; few quantitative measures employed pretests or reported statistical significance; and institutional change was not measured in a structured way. While papers reported successful outcomes, greater rigor in measuring and documenting outcomes would be helpful.Planning outcome evaluation carefully and conducting research into mediators between health information and behavior will strengthen the ability to identify best practices and develop a theoretical framework and practical guidance for health information outreach.
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Project description:The goal of the Young Scientist Program (YSP) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WUSM) is to broaden science literacy and recruit talent for the scientific future. In particular, YSP seeks to expose underrepresented minority high school students from St. Louis public schools (SLPS) to a wide variety of careers in the sciences. The centerpiece of YSP, the Summer Focus Program (SFP), is a nine-week, intensive research experience for competitively chosen rising high school seniors (Scholars). Scholars are paired with volunteer graduate student, medical student, or postdoctoral fellow mentors who are active members of the practicing scientific community and serve as guides and exemplars of scientific careers. The SFP seeks to increase the number of underrepresented minority students pursuing STEM undergraduate degrees by making the Scholars more comfortable with science and science literacy. The data presented here provide results of the objective, quick, and simple methods developed by YSP to assess the efficacy of the SFP from 2006 to 2013. We demonstrate that the SFP successfully used formative evaluation to continuously improve the various activities within the SFP over the course of several years and in turn enhance student experiences within the SFP. Additionally we show that the SFP effectively broadened confidence in science literacy among participating high school students and successfully graduated a high percentage of students who went on to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at the undergraduate level.
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Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19 vaccines are vital tools in the defense against infection and serious disease due to SARS-CoV-2. There are many challenges to implementing mass vaccination campaigns for large, diverse populations from crafting vaccine promotion messages to reaching individuals in a timely and effective manner. During this unprecedented period, with COVID-19 mass vaccination campaigns essential for protecting vulnerable patient populations and attaining herd immunity, health care systems were faced with the dual challenges of vaccine outreach and distribution.ObjectiveThe aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine text outreach approach for patients aged 65 years and older. Our goal was to determine whether this approach was successful in scheduling patients for COVID-19 vaccine appointments.MethodsWe developed SMS text messages using the Tavoca platform. These messages informed patients of their vaccine eligibility and allowed them to indicate their interest in scheduling an appointment via a specific method (email or phone) or indicate their lack of interest in the vaccine. We tracked the status of these messages and how patients responded. Messages were sent to patients aged 65 years and older (N=30,826) at a nonprofit health care system in Washington, DC. Data were collected and examined from January 14 to May 10, 2021. Data were analyzed using multivariate multinomial and binary logistic regression models in SAS (version 9.4; SAS Institute Inc).ResultsApproximately 57% of text messages were delivered to patients, but many messages received no response from patients (40%). Additionally, 42.1% (12,978/30,826) of messages were not delivered. Of the patients who expressed interest in the vaccine (2938/30,826, 9.5%), Black or African American patients preferred a phone call rather than an email for scheduling their appointment (odds ratio [OR] 1.69, 95% CI 1.29-2.21) compared to White patients. Patients aged 70-74 years were more likely to schedule an appointment (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.01-1.89) than those aged 65-69 years, and Black or African American patients were more likely to schedule an appointment (OR 2.90, 95% CI 1.72-4.91) than White patients.ConclusionsThis study provides insights into some advantages and challenges of using a text messaging vaccine outreach for patients aged 65 years and older. Lessons learned from this vaccine campaign underscore the importance of using multiple outreach methods and sharing of patient vaccination status between health systems, along with a patient-centered approach to address vaccine hesitancy and access issues.
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Project description:Background The empowerment of families raising children with disabilities (CWD) is crucial in maintaining their health. We developed an evidence-based, family empowerment intervention program focusing on social resource utilization and reducing care burden. Objective This study aimed to determine the program's effectiveness in promoting family empowerment. Methods We compared an intervention group that started the online intervention program a week after initial evaluation and a group that received delayed intervention (waitlist-controlled group) at three time points: initial (T1), post-course (T2), and follow-up (T3). The required sample size was 52. Results There were 60 participants who applied to the program. One participant dropped out due to scheduling issues, and the others were assigned to either the intervention group (n = 29) or the waitlist-controlled group (n = 30). Those who responded to the baseline questionnaire (T1: 26 from the intervention group; 29 from the waitlist-controlled group) comprised the final sample. Among them, 20 members of the intervention group and 20 of the waitlist-controlled group attended all four sessions (completion rates of 77% and 69%, respectively). The attendance rate for sessions 1–4 was 94%, 89%, 81%, and 83%, respectively. The participant numbers in each session ranged from 5 to 18 per month. The baseline outcome score did not differ between the groups. The primary outcome, family empowerment, measured using the family empowerment scale (FES), was significantly higher at T2 for the intervention group than in the waitlist-controlled group and was sustained in the sensitivity analysis. The intervention group's FES, in the family relationships (FA) and relationships with service systems (SS) subdomains, increased significantly, unlike involvement with the community (SP). The intervention group experienced lower care burden and higher self-compassion, especially in the isolation and over-identification items of the self-compassion scale-short form (SCS-SF). The intervention group's FES (total, FA, SS) and SCS-SF (total, common humanity, isolation) changed significantly between T1 and T2, and all, except common humanity, were sustained up to T3; this group's FES (SP) and SCS (negative score, over-identification) changed significantly between T1 and T3. The waitlist-controlled group's FES (total, FA) and SCS (total) changed significantly and were sustained between T2 and T3. Conclusions The developed intervention program promotes family empowerment in families of CWD. Clinical Trial Registration This study is registered as a clinical trial in the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000050422, UMIN000044172).
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Project description:Background:Community Health Workers (CHWs) are considered to be a cost-effective and inclusive solution to address the persistent health workforce shortage in many low and middle-income countries. In recent years, microfinance institutions (MFIs) got increasingly engaged in providing health services delivered by CHWs. Despite their growing importance, little is known about the impacts and implementation barriers of these mostly small-scale initiatives. This paper evaluates an MFI-led CHW program in the Philippines and studies the role of microfinance group networks in influencing program outreach and impact. The intervention aims at disseminating information in poor communities, improving health monitoring through increased check-ups and raising social support. Methods:Clustered randomized controlled trial in 70 communities in the greater area of Metro Manila, the Philippines. The main data was collected in a baseline and follow-up survey and is complemented with extensive sociometric network and geographical data. The main outcome variable is a composite health index based on 10 indicators. The role of the health worker's embeddedness and connectedness in the community for program success is tested using tools of social network analysis. Results:The intervention led to a 3.8% (95% confidence interval (CI)?=?1.3, 6.4) improvement in the composite health outcome. Effects across indicators are mixed and mainly driven by changes in immediate health monitoring behavior: The probability for routine examinations increased in the treatment group by 10.6% (95% CI?=?3.2, 18.1), for regular blood pressure checks by 9.6% (95% CI?=?3.3, 15.9), and for having access to a health care provider by 7.2% (95% CI?=?0.93, 13.5). No statistical effects on general knowledge and social support are observable. Social networks are a key driver of program outreach and impact. Close friends and acquaintances of health workers used and benefited substantially more from the program than more distant ties. Conclusions:Despite the promising immediate behavioral impacts, it remains questionable to what extent such small-scale MFI initiatives can bring transformative and sustainable changes without external support. Microfinance group networks played an important role for the success of the health intervention and further research is needed to better understand how these affect the health care utilization decisions of the clients.
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Project description:BackgroundMany health plans have outreach programs aimed at appropriately screening, evaluating, and treating women experiencing fragility fractures; however, few programs exist for men.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate an osteoporosis outreach program for men with a recent fragility fracture and their physicians.Research design and subjectsA total of 10,934 male patients enrolled in a Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drug Plan with a recent fragility fracture were randomized to a program or control group. Patients and their physicians received letters followed by phone calls on osteoporosis and the importance of screening and treatment. The evaluation compared bone mineral density (BMD) test utilization and osteoporosis medication treatment (OPT) among patients who received the outreach versus no outreach at 12 months. The effect of the program was estimated through univariate and multivariable logistic regressions.ResultsThe program had a significant impact on BMD evaluation and OPT initiation. At 12 months, 10.7% of participants and 4.9% of nonparticipants received a BMD evaluation. The odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval) was 2.31 (1.94, 2.76), and the number needed to outreach to receive a BMD test was 18. OPT was initiated in 4.0% of participants and 2.5% of nonparticipants. The OR (95% confidence interval) of receiving OPT was 1.60 (1.24, 2.07), and the number needed to outreach was 69. Adjusted ORs were similar in magnitude and significance.ConclusionThe program was highly effective by more than doubling the rate of BMD evaluation; however, more intensive interventions may yield an even higher screening rate.
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Project description:Introduction: Vulnerably housed individuals, especially those experiencing homelessness, have higher acute care use compared with the general population. Despite available primary care and social services, many face significant challenges accessing needed services. Connect 2 Care (C2C) is a novel transitional case management program that includes registered nurses and health navigators with complementary expertise in chronic disease management, mental health and addictions, social programs, community health, and housing, financial, transportation and legal resources. C2C bridges acute care and community services to improve care coordination. Methods and Analysis: We will perform a mixed-methods evaluation of the C2C program according to the Donabedian framework of structure, process and outcome, to understand how program structure and process, coupled with contextual factors, influence outcomes in a novel intervention. Eligible patients are homeless or unstably housed adults with complex health conditions and high acute care use. Change in emergency department visit rate 12-months after program enrolment is the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes include 12-month post-enrolment hospital admissions, cumulative hospital days, health-related quality of life, housing status, primary care attachment and substance use. Qualitative methods will explore experiences with the C2C program from multiple perspectives and an economic evaluation will assess cost-effectiveness. Discussion: Academic researchers partnered with community service providers to evaluate a novel transitional case management intervention for vulnerably housed patients with high acute-care use. The study uses mixed-methods to evaluate the Connect 2 Care program according to the Donabedian framework of structure, process and outcome, including an assessment of contextual factors that influence program success. Insights gained through this comprehensive evaluation will help refine the C2C program and inform decisions about sustainability and transferability to other settings in Canada.
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