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OBJECTIVE: Effective health communication is critical for understanding and acting on health information. This cross-sectional study explored participants' understanding of their health condition, their preferences for receiving health communications, and their interest in receiving clinical trial results across several therapeutic areas. METHODS: The study recruited participants via social media, email newsletters, and advocacy organizations. An online screener captured demographic information (health conditions, age, race/ethnicity, gender, and education). Eligible participants were emailed an online survey assessing preferred sources and formats for receiving health information, interest in learning about topics related to the results of clinical trials, and health literacy levels. RESULTS: In total, 449 participants (median age, 35 years [range, 18-76]; White, 53%; higher education, 65%; mean (range) health literacy score, 1.9 [0.4-3.0]) from 45 US states completed the survey representing 12 disease indications (bipolar, blood and solid tumor cancers, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, major depressive disorder, migraine, Parkinson's, psoriasis/atopic dermatitis, retinal vein occlusion/macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, and spasticity). Healthcare providers were the preferred source of health information (59%), followed by Internet searches (11%). Least preferred sources were social media (5%), friends/family (3%), and email newsletters (2%). Participants preferred multiple formats and ranked reading materials online as most preferred (33%), along with videos (28%) and infographics (27%). Printed materials (14%) and audio podcasts (9%) were the least preferred formats. A majority of the participants reported that the health information they found was hard to understand (57%) and confusing (62%). Most participants (85%) were somewhat/very interested in learning about clinical trial results, with the highest interest in short summaries of safety (78%) and efficacy (74%) results. CONCLUSION: Effective health communication may be achieved via multiple formats shared directly by healthcare providers.
Researchers wanted to learn how people preferred to receive health-related communications, including information about the results of clinical trials. They surveyed 449 people from 45 US states with 12 different health conditions. The survey questions asked people about their preferred sources and ways of getting health information. It also asked about their interest in learning about clinical trials related to their health condition. The results showed that most people preferred to get health information from their healthcare providers (59%). The Internet was the second most popular choice (11%) for getting health information. People did not like getting health information from social media, friends or family, or email newsletters as much. When it came to how health information was shared, people liked reading materials online (33%), watching videos (28%), and looking at infographics (27%). They did not like printed materials and audio podcasts as much. Most people (85%) were interested in learning about the results of clinical trials in short summaries. They wanted to know about the safety (78%) and how well the treatments worked (74%) in the short summaries. In conclusion, people liked getting health information from healthcare providers like doctors, nurses, and others in different formats. Sharing information in different formats through healthcare providers may improve communication for patients with different health conditions.
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BACKGROUND: Considering adolescents' heavy use of media, serious videogames may provide an engaging and innovative way to achieve positive impact on adolescents' diet and physical activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of playing a serious game, "Creature-101" (developed by Teachers College, Columbia University [New York, NY] and Stottler Henke Inc. [San Mateo, CA]), at promoting energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) such as increasing fruits and vegetables intake, water intake, and physical activity and decreasing processed snacks intake, sweetened beverages intake, and recreational screen time. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This pre-post intervention-control study (n=590) was conducted in New York City low-income public middle schools. The students (11-13 years of age, 51.6 percent male) played "Creature-101" online in science/health education classes (seven sessions, 30 minutes each session for 1 month). "Creature-101" used behavioral theories as the framework for "creature care" in a world "Tween." Students were provided with scientific evidence that promoted energy balance through minigames, educational videos, and slideshows and were motivated with interactive dialogues with game characters. Students also assessed their own behaviors, created their own "real life" food and activity goals, and reported their progress. A self-reported, validated, online instrument that measured frequency and amount of targeted behaviors was administered at baseline and post-intervention. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance compared post-test means between groups with pretest scores as covariates. Intervention students reported significant decreases in frequency and amount of consumption of sweetened beverages and processed snacks compared with the controls. No changes were observed for the other behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: "Creature-101" was effective at reducing consumption of sweetened beverages and processed snacks, which are related to obesity risks, indicating that the game shows promise at promoting EBRBs.
