VIRTUAL DIALOGUE METHOD FOR PATIENT EDUCATION

关心乳腺癌的妇女并不总是能够获得她们想要或需要的信息。有关信息最好通过与卫生专业人员的个人对话获得。然而，目前医生和护士的时间有限，并不总是允许对每个病人进行全面的教育，许多妇女不知道该问什么问题。为了提高患者对乳房健康问题的认识，研究人员建议使用声控多媒体模型，允许女性对存储在CD-ROM上的女性肿瘤学家进行虚拟采访。这个用户控制的、高度互动的模型将使关心乳腺癌的女性患者获得有关乳腺癌和其他乳房健康问题的知识，从而帮助她们更有效地与医生和/或护士沟通自己的健康状况。该项目将在乔治城大学隆巴迪癌症中心进行实地测试，测试对象是不同年龄、种族和社会经济背景的女性患者，以确定这项创新技术的可行性和用户接受程度、其教育效果以及对患者/健康专业沟通的潜在影响。建议的商业应用：本产品将提供给乳房健康诊所、妇女健康中心、医院、健康维护组织（HMOs）、首选提供者组织（PPOs）、私人诊所和社区诊所。

Women concerned about breast cancer are not always able to obtain the information they want or need. Pertinent information is best obtained from personal dialogue with expert health professionals. However, the current constraints on doctors' and nurses' time do not always allow for a complete education of each patient, and many women do not know what questions to ask. In an effort to enhance patients' knowledge about breast health issues, the researchers propose to use a voice-activated multimedia model to allow women to conduct a virtual interview of a female oncologist whose video images have been stored on a CD-ROM. This user-controlled, highly interactive model will allow concerned female patients to gain knowledge about breast cancer and other breast health issues that can help them communicate more effectively about their own health status with the physician and/or nurse. The program will be field tested at the Lombardi CancerCenter of Georgetown University by female patients of diverse ages, ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds to determine the feasibility and user acceptance of this innovative technology, its educational effectiveness, and its potential impact on patient/health professional communication. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: This product will be made available to breast health clinics, women's health centers, hospitals, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), private practices, and community clinics.