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Suzanne Austin Boren

Publications and source records attributed to Suzanne Austin Boren.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Evaluation of a Diabetes Education Call Center intervention.

Patients require education and information as they engage in self-help, self-care, and disease management activities. The purpose of this study was to determine how effective voice technologies are in diabetes patient education. A pretest-posttest study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of prerecorded educational messages delivered via the telephone to participants with diabetes. The intervention consisted of 24 four-minute messages on the topics of knowledge and prevention, glucose level, diet and activity, and management and coping. Eighteen persons with diabetes participated in the pretest-posttest trial. A total of 324 educational messages were listened to over a 12-week intervention period. The pretest-posttest trial demonstrated that a brief telephone-based diabetes education intervention can have a significant impact on increasing frequency of checking blood for glucose (p = 0.017), improving general diabetes knowledge (p = 0.048), and improving insulin-specific knowledge (p = 0.020). Automated educational interventions should be based on scientifically sound evidence and can be effectively delivered by telephone. Automated telephone-based diabetes education may be used alone or as a supplement to existing diabetes education. Automated education is a viable solution when healthcare organizations and regions that as a result of a lack of human and financial resources cannot afford a diabetes educator.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Assessing communications effectiveness in meeting corporate goals of public health organizations.

Much evaluation of health communications in public health is considered from a program perspective of smoking cessation, weight reduction, education on sexually transmitted diseases, etc. These studies have advanced the knowledge base of communications theory and evaluation and have contributed to program effectiveness. In program-based evaluation the communications process is structured as part of the program itself. This article extends program-based communications evaluation to view communications from the perspective of the consumer and how effectively public health departments respond to consumer expectations. It develops a conceptual model for evaluating elements of communications such as its importance in defining mission and goals within the community, managing strategic constituencies, and enlisting individuals and groups as customers and co-producers of health. It gives a broader perspective on how communications in public heath organizations are managed and a basis for assessing whether they are being managed effectively.

Communication↗
PubMed2005

Acceptance of diabetes education via the telephone.

Patients require education and information as they engage in self-help, self-care, and disease management activities. The objective of this study was to explore the acceptance of voice technologies in diabetes patient education. Eighteen participants listened to a total of 324 diabetes educational messages and were provided the opportunity to rate the usefulness of each message. This study demonstrated that brief telephone-based education can be acceptable and useful.

Diabetes Mellitus↗
PubMed2004

eLearning: a review of Internet-based continuing medical education.

INTRODUCTION: The objective was to review the effect of Internet-based continuing medical education (CME) interventions on physician performance and health care outcomes. METHODS: Data sources included searches of MEDLINE (1966 to January 2004), CINAHL (1982 to December 2003), ACP Journal Club (1991 to July/August 2003), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (third quarter, 2003). Studies were included in the analyses if they were randomized controlled trials of Internet-based education in which participants were practicing health care professionals or health professionals in training. CME interventions were categorized according to the nature of the intervention, sample size, and other information about educational content and format. RESULTS: Sixteen studies met the eligibility criteria. Six studies generated positive changes in participant knowledge over traditional formats; only three studies showed a positive change in practices. The remainder of the studies showed no difference in knowledge levels between Internet-based interventions and traditional formats for CME. DISCUSSION: The results demonstrate that Internet-based CME programs are just as effective in imparting knowledge as traditional formats of CME. Little is known as to whether these positive changes in knowledge are translated into changes in practice. Subjective reports of change in physician behavior should be confirmed through chart review or other objective measures. Additional studies need to be performed to assess how long these new learned behaviors could be sustained. eLearning will continue to evolve as new innovations and more interactive modes are incorporated into learning.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed2004

Computerized knowledge management in diabetes care.

INTRODUCTION: Many scientific achievements become part of usual diabetes care only after long delays. The purpose of this article is to identify the impact of automated information interventions on diabetes care and patient outcomes and to enable this knowledge to be incorporated into diabetes care practice. METHODS: We conducted systematic electronic and manual searches and identified reports of randomized clinical trials of computer-assisted interventions in diabetes care. Studies were grouped into 3 categories: computerized prompting of diabetes care, utilization of home glucose records in computer-assisted insulin dose adjustment, and computer-assisted diabetes patient education. RESULTS: Among 40 eligible studies, glycated hemoglobin and blood glucose levels were significantly improved in 7 and 6 trials, respectively. Significantly improved guideline compliance was reported in 6 of 8 computerized prompting studies. Three of 4 pocket-sized insulin dosage computers reduced hypoglycemic events and insulin doses. Metaanalysis of studies using home glucose records in insulin dose adjustment documented a mean decrease in glycated hemoglobin of.14 mmol/L (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11-0.16) and a decrease in blood glucose of.33 mmol/L (95% CI, 0.28-0.39). Several computerized educational programs improved diet and metabolic indicators. DISCUSSION: Computerized knowledge management is becoming a vital component of quality diabetes care. Prompting follow-up procedures, computerized insulin therapy adjustment using home glucose records, remote feedback, and counseling have documented benefits in improving diabetes-related outcomes.

Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring↗
PubMed2004

Assessing patient safety awareness and needs in rural hospitals in one US state.

Several initiatives have addressed patient safety by enabling electronic voluntary reporting of adverse events within academic medical centres in urban settings. Such initiatives are lacking in the rural context, and it remains unknown whether the same challenges and solutions apply to rural hospitals. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the organisational culture and level of readiness to adopt patient safety strategies in a rural setting, as well as to identify critical issues pertaining to the rural context that need to inform the design of such strategies. We conducted telephone interviews with administrators and healthcare providers of rural hospitals in one US state. Questions referred to the respondents' current reporting mechanism, its advantages and disadvantages, and organisational patient safety culture. A total of 16 administrators and 14 providers of eight rural hospitals in the state of Missouri were interviewed. Findings indicate that very few administrators felt that there was a timely response to adverse event reports. Half of the administrators stated that the current mechanism is an appropriate and adequate outlet to ensure patient safety. None of the healthcare providers found errors and adverse events to be over-reported; the majority believe that they are being under-reported. Only 36% of the care providers interviewed have themselves reported an error or adverse drug event during their tenure with their organisation. The study findings demonstrate a definite need for improvement of the current infrastructure of rural hospitals in order to enable an effective outlet for ensuring patient safety.

Data Collection↗
PubMed2002

WEB-WAP based telecare.

We have developed two telecare applications based on mobile telephony (WAP) and WEB. The first can be used to request Basic Life Support (BLS) guidelines any time by using a WAP device and to teach people and non-professionals involved in health care emergency situations. The second is a WEB-WAP based tool for medical data retrieval and at-home health care monitoring of chronically ill patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) or diabetes. Medical education content related to these diseases is available on the WEB and on the WAP device. The WAP application uses the features found in the last generation of mobile phones such as better multimedia information presentations, better interactivity capabilities, and enhanced ease of use. Based on these two applications, a promising platform is offered for developing applications in health care, home care, medical monitoring and health education ensuring continuity of care. In the paper we present the preliminary results of a pilot test at Thessaloniki University (Greece) where the WEB-WAP based tool is used to monitor patients with diabetes or CHF.

Chronic Disease↗