[Press release] ‘Nudges’ try to help college students live healthier

‘Nudges’ try to help college students live healthier 

 

Students run up the bleachers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the University of Florida campus. A new national study aimed at preventing college students from gaining weight used Internet lessons and “nudges” to try to get them to live healthier lifestyles. Karla Shelnutt, a UF/IFAS assistant professor in family, youth and community sciences and a study investigator, considers the web messages successful if they helped students progress from thinking about eating more fruits and vegetables to actually doing so.Credit: UF/IFAS file photo.

From the 14 November 2014 University of Florida press release:

From the 12 November 2014 University of Florida press release

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Internet lessons and “tailored” text alerts can help some young people adopt healthier lifestyles, according to a national study aimed at preventing weight gain.

Although experimental group students didn’t gain or lose more weight than their control group counterparts, researchers remain hopeful the Internet-message approach can work because it helped college students progress from what researchers call the “contemplative stage” to the “action stage.”

An example of the contemplative stage would be someone who’s thinking about trying to eat fatty foods less frequently, but hasn’t taken action to do so, while someone at the action stage would choose to eat a salad, instead.

In the study, students aged 18-24 received individually targeted messages. Some students were in the “pre-contemplative” stage; others fell into the “action” stage, while others were in various stages between those two.

The study, published online last week in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, found more students who received the Web messages ate more fruits and vegetables and were more physically active than those in the control group.

Researchers weren’t as concerned about students losing weight as they were with giving them strategies to lead healthier lives to prevent weight gain, said Karla Shelnutt, a University of Florida assistant professor in family, youth and community sciences.

 

 

Does Technology Really Widen the Gap Between Minorities, Poor and the Disadvantaged?

When I was in Liberia, West Africa a few years ago it was hard not to notice how many Liberians had cell phones.
Have read quite a few articles since then on how just basic cell phones without apps can facilitate better health services, better communication about health prevention, screening, and such, and better health stats

 

health communication source

I saw this comment posted last week on a federal government health office group page in response to their announcement of their new app, the use of technology and the release of open data and big data on their website:

Posts like these are not unique. It is a common argument for not using any technology methods for some health communication campaigns because of limited reach in populations without Internet access. In the case of the example above, reaching migrant workers is a challenge, no argument there. But is it really technology’s fault?

I’m a big advocate of boots-on-the-ground campaigns, but coupling a digital presence is better, even if it takes on a minor role. Of course no one can reach 100% of a population, whether online or offline. But we can improve reaching communities outside of the Internet by using the Internet.

Herd Immunity

While there is a lot said about the shortcomings…

View original post 882 more words

A changing doctor-patient relationship – latimes.com

 

English: Livingston, TX, 9/25/05 — A doctor talks to a patient with a broken neck at a triage center at Livingston Hospital. Doctors and nurses on FEMA’s Disaster Medical Assistance Team from North Carolina care for patients brought to the 50 bed hospital. The hospital does not have enough staff to care for all the patients evacuated from Texas cities in the path of hurricane Rita. Photo by: Liz Roll (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

From the 13 September 2012 article at the LA Times

 

Until now, doctors have pretty much called the shots in the doctor-patient relationship. But change is on the way. Patients, say ahhhhh — it’s about to be all about you.

The new approach is called patient-centered care, and it’s a very good thing, according to Dr. James Rickert, the founder and president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics in Bedford, Ind. “It will mean better outcomes, more satisfied patients and lower costs,” he says.

Here are just a few ways your relationship with your doctor may evolve in the not-too-distant future:

Your doctor won’t be the boss of you...

…

In a patient-centered healthcare universe, doctors will make sure their patients have all the information they need about all their options — and patients will have to tell their doctors their priorities.

“Research suggests that patients want to participate,” Barry says, “but they may be afraid to push back, afraid they’ll be labeled bad patients. Then it’s important for clinicians to draw them out.”

You may have a whole team taking care of you...

You and your doctor will spend more time on the Internet.

That’s because e-visits will replace some traditional kinds of appointments.

“It’s so easy,” says Dr. Redonda Miller, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. “Patients love it — 50% of what we do in the office could by done by email.”

You may also avail yourself of the extensive medical information that can found on the Web. Your doctor should advise you about reliable sources, says Hedy Wald, a clinical associate professor of family medicine at Brown University. “We don’t want people thinking it’s a cure to put egg yolks on their heads.”

Facilities will be designed with you in mind...

 

 

 

Related articles

 

• A stronger doctor-patient relationship for the costliest patients (eurekalert.org)
• New Jersey Plastic Surgeon Revolutionizes Patient-Doctor Relationship with Social Media (prweb.com)
• Three Reasons Why Doctors Need To Spend More Time Talking and Listening To Their Patients (healthecommunications.wordpress.com)
• The Doctor’s Hand: A Healing Touch (thoughtsofdaktari.wordpress.com)
• The Institute for Research on “Humanism in Medicine” Created by The Gold Foundation – To Better Define the Role of Compassion, Altruism, and Respect To Support the Importance of the Doctor/Patient Relationship (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)

 

Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives

Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives

Excerpt from a summary of the report at Pew Internet (February 29, 2012)

Teens and young adults brought up from childhood with a continuous connection to each other and to information will be nimble, quick-acting multitaskers who count on the Internet as their external brain and who approach problems in a different way from their elders, according to a new survey of technology experts.

Many of the experts surveyed by Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center and the Pew Internet Project said the effects of hyperconnectivity and the always-on lifestyles of young people will be mostly positive between now and 2020. But the experts in this survey also predicted this generation will exhibit a thirst for instant gratification and quick fixes, a loss of patience, and a lack of deep-thinking ability due to what one referred to as “fast-twitch wiring.”….

…This publication is part of a Pew Research Center series that captures people’s expectations for the future of the internet, in the process presenting a snapshot of current attitudes. Find out more at:http://pewinternet.org/topics/Future-of-the-internet.aspx andhttp://imaginingtheinternet.org.

Related articles

• Pew – Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives (bespacific.com)
• Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives (learningwithtechs.wordpress.com)
• Pew Internet gazes into the ‘crystal ball’ of today’s hyperconnected millennials (centerforhealthmediapolicy.com)
• Millennials ‘benefit and suffer’ from hyperconnected lives: report (digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com)
• [STUDY] How Hyperconnectivity Affects Young People (readwriteweb.com)

Participatory healthcare: A parody? « ScienceRoll

Participatory healthcare: A parody? « ScienceRoll.

A 1 1/2 minute cartoon where a nurse slowly convinces a doctor on why the Internet is useful in patient education.

 

Cross Agency Portals : USA.gov

 

 

Link to federal government cross agency portals. A cross agency portal
is a government website on a specific topic with information from
several or many federal government agencies,

The Social Life of Health Information, 2011

Excerpts from the Pew Report summary

The internet has changed people’s relationships with information. Our data consistently show that doctors, nurses and other health professionals continue to be the first choice for most people with health concerns, but online resources, including advice from peers, are a significant source of health information in the U.S.

These findings are based on a national telephone survey conducted in August and September 2010 among 3,001 adults in the U.S. The complete methodology and results are appended to this report.

The survey finds that, of the 74% of adults who use the internet:

• 80% of internet users have looked online for information about any of the 15 health topics asked about such as a specific disease or treatment. This translates to 59% of all adults.
• 34% of internet users, or 25% of adults, have read someone else’s commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, website or blog.
• 25% of internet users, or 19% of adults, have watched an online video about health or medical issues.
• 24% of internet users, or 18% of adults, have consulted online reviews of particular drugs or medical treatments.
• 18% of internet users, or 13% of adults, have gone online to find others who might have health concerns similar to theirs.
• 16% of internet users, or 12% of adults, have consulted online rankings or reviews of doctors or other providers.
• 15% of internet users, or 11% of adults, have consulted online rankings or reviews of hospitals or other medical facilities.

Continue reading the full report at pewinternet.org.

Easy Online Availability Of Controlled Drugs May Contribute To Soaring Abuse Levels

Image via Wikipedia

From a 12 May Medical News Today article

Increasing access to rogue online pharmacies – those which dispense medications without a doctor’s prescription – may be an important factor behind the rapid increase in the abuse of prescription drugs. In a report that was released today, 12th May, online by the journal Health Affairs and will also appear in its June edition, investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University of Southern California (USC) find that states with the greatest expansion in high-speed Internet access from 2000 to 2007 also had the largest increase in admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse….

….The analysis indicated that each 10 percent increase in the availability of high-speed Internet service in a state was accompanied by an approximately 1 percent increase in admissions for prescription drug abuse. The increases were strongest for narcotic painkillers, followed by anti-anxiety drugs, stimulants and sedatives. During the same period admissions to treat abuse of alcohol, heroin or cocaine, substances not available online, showed minimal growth or actually decreased. …

Click here to read the entire  news article

The abstract and full text of the Health Affairs article Growing Internet Use May Help Explain The Rise In Prescription Drug Abuse In The United States may be found here.

Connecting Youth to Quality Health Information

From a December 10th US Public Health Partners listserv item

Connecting Youth to Quality Health Information is an interactive lesson plan for school health personnel, educators, and librarians that aims to increase high school students’ capabilities to access and evaluate quality health information on the Internet.