Patient Awareness and Consumer Education Research Cente*

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Consumers' knowledge, values, and preferences are being recognized as drivers of health care utilization. With the therapeutic advances in the last decades, there are usually multiple options for a given clinical problem with different risk-benefit ratios; yet, patients spend less and less time with their physicians, and often get information from alternate sources, such as the media or direct-to-consumer advertising. We propose the creation of a comprehensive interdisciplinary Patient Awareness and Consumer Education Research Center with an overarching vision of supporting and empowering consumers of healthcare through informed decision-making. The mission of the RC will be to develop a program of excellence to improve consumers' awareness of the benefits and risks of therapeutics through research, education, and dissemination, targeting consumers and their providers. Our strategic plan for the next five years has the following specific aims: Aim 1 To establish the infrastructure for an interdisciplinary RC of excellence to conduct and support research and educational initiatives related to health communication for patients and consumers. Aim 2 To develop a comprehensive research program to evaluate methods, application and outcomes of health communication strategies. This aim will be achieved by: (i) Developing the methodological infrastructure to support investigator-initiated efforts in these areas (e.g. assistancewith grant proposals, collaborative efforts, contribution of resources); (ii) Conducting four demonstration projects Aim 3 To establish a Consumer Health Advisory Information Network (CHAIN) to deploy a system for rapid response to emerging therapeutic issues. Aim 4 To disseminate and implement the information developed by the RC. These operationalaims will be achieved through the creation of three cores within the RC: (i) Research and Training Core; (ii) Methods Core; and (iii) Education and Dissemination Core (including CHAIN). We have identified four major themes which will guide our strategic research, education and dissemination plan: (i) Health communication and consumer education; (ii)Clinician-patient interactions; (iii) Health decision-making; and (iv) Patient adherence to therapeutic recommendations.