Participatory Design of a Text Message System to Support Community Health Advisor

描述(申请人提供)：癌症死亡率在美国持续下降；然而，非洲裔美国人和低收入和/或低教育程度的人患新癌症和癌症死亡的比率最高。对癌症风险的认识差异和拥有错误信息可能是导致癌症健康差异的潜在因素。由于非裔美国人的癌症负担不均，深南癌症控制网络(DSN)于2000年初成立，以建立可持续的社区基础设施，以提高对癌症的认识，并开发和测试创新的、以社区为基础的癌症控制措施，以消除阿拉巴马州和密西西比州非裔美国人的癌症死亡率差距。作为研究伙伴的社区卫生顾问(CHARP)接受了培训，以便在他们的社区开展癌症宣传活动，并在协调社区研究方面发挥合作伙伴的作用。随着允许个人获得更多信息的技术的出现，健康促进计划的发展，如戒烟、体育活动、体重控制，使用手机的短消息服务(SMS)或文本消息功能，显示了许多积极的结果。通过向CHARP提供移动电话短信系统，CHARP可以通过与社区成员的同步、实时通信获得准确和最新的癌症健康信息。该项目的总体目标是开发和试点测试一种创新的交互式短信应用程序，旨在为DSN CHARP提供癌症健康信息和支持网络。该项目将以技术验收模型()为指导。这一理论表明，当向用户呈现一项新技术时，许多因素(感知的有用性和感知的易用性)会影响她关于如何以及何时使用该技术的决定。具体目标是：在DSN CHARP中进行广泛的形成性研究，以评估短信技术传递信息和确定癌症信息需求的可行性和可接受性；与DSN CHARP合作起草和评估将被纳入短信数据库的文本消息，以开发旨在提供癌症信息的原型短信系统；以及实施和评估通过CHARP提供癌症信息的短信系统的有效性。这项研究的结果将为在癌症健康差异和移动电话技术领域进行更广泛的研究提供基础。此外，更好地了解如何向农村和低资源地区的人分发癌症健康信息将有助于改进干预措施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cancer mortality is continuing to decline in the United States; however, African Americans and people with low income and/or education have the highest rates of both new cancers and cancer deaths. The differences in knowledge of cancer risks and possessing misinformation may be a potential contributing factor to cancer health disparities. Due to the unequal burden of cancer among African Americans, the Deep South Network (DSN) for Cancer Control was established in early 2000 to establish sustainable community infrastructure in order to promote cancer awareness and to develop and test innovative, community-based cancer control measures to eliminate cancer mortality disparities among African Americans in Alabama and Mississippi. Community Health Advisors as Research Partners (CHARPs) were trained to deliver cancer awareness activities in their community and to serve as partners in the coordination of community-based research. With the emergence of technology that allows individuals' increased access to information, the development of health promotion programs, e.g. smoking cessation, physical activity, weight management, which use the short messaging service (SMS), or text messaging function of the mobile phone, have shown many positive outcomes. By providing CHARPs with a mobile phone SMS system, CHARPs can have access to accurate and up-to-date cancer health information through synchronous, real-time, communication to community members. The overall goal of the project is to develop and pilot test an innovative, interactive SMS application designed to provide cancer health information and a support network for the DSN CHARPs. The project will be guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This theory suggests that when a user is presented with a new technology, a number of factors (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) influence her decision about how and when she will use the technology. The specific aims are: to conduct extensive formative research among DSN CHARPs in order to assess the feasibility and acceptability of SMS technology to deliver information and identify cancer information needs; to collaborate with DSN CHARPs to draft and evaluate text messages to be included in the SMS database in order to develop a prototype SMS system aimed at providing cancer information; and to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the SMS system for delivering cancer information through CHARPs. Results from this study will provide a basis for more extended research in the field of cancer health disparities and mobile phone technology. In addition, a greater understanding of how to distribute cancer health information to those in rural and low resource areas will lead to improved interventions.