Congress Abstracts 2003

84

OUTCOME EVALUATION OF A PATIENT EDUCATION NOTEBOOK FOR WOMEN WITH GYNECOLOGIC MALIGNANCY. Kerry Harwood, RN, MSN, Duke University Health System, Durham, NC.

Patients with cancer have extensive learning needs in order to understand their disease, make treatment decisions, manage care and symptoms at home, utilize resources, and cope effectively. Healthcare professionals are challenged in meeting these extensive learning needs at a time of crisis. Disease-specific patient education notebooks were developed to assist patients and staff in this process. An evaluation project was done with women with gynecologic malignancies to determine how notebooks were being used, benefits, detriments, predictors for use/benefits/detriments, and opportunities to improve content and process.

This convenience sample consisted of 50 sequential women who had received the notebook 5–6 months earlier. They were contacted by letter, invited to participate, and given the option to opt out by leaving a telephone message. Those who did not opt out were called (47). 29 were successfully interviewed. Reasons for no interview were disconnected phone/no answer (13) and death/too ill to participate (5). Structured interviews were conducted by either the patient education program director or health education graduate student.

Of 29 interviewed, 22 used the notebook. Users versus non-users were not different in age, diagnoses, types of treatment received, preferred learning style, educational level, marital status, family support, or previous experience with cancer.

Data presented are from the user group. Greater than 90% of participants identified knowledge, anticipation, and control benefits. 77% had a clinical problem at home, went to the notebook, and were able to manage the problem themselves, while 64% in that situation used the notebook to determine they needed to call the doctor. Financial implications of these two data points have been calculated.

Several observations were made from this data. Families used the notebooks extensively as they helped patients make decisions and care for themselves at home. Patients who were functionally illiterate used the materials by having others read it to them.

Efforts were made in developing the content to clarify clinical practice; patients identified no areas of inconsistency.

Opportunities were identified for staff to utilize the notebook more frequently in their ongoing patient education, particularly around symptom management.