Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education
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The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil) is a significant advancement in reducing women's risk for cervical cancer. Public opinion of the vaccine can be influenced by the mass media. We used content analysis to assess the discussion of risks, fear-inducing messages about HPV, cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine in four high circulating North American news magazines from January 2006 to December 2007. ⋯ Reporting on the HPV vaccine emphasized it being poorly understood by science. News magazine articles on the HPV vaccine and cervical cancer included fear-inducing messages. Cancer educators need to be aware of media reporting in order to alleviate fears that the public may experience about the HPV vaccine.
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Deficiencies in palliative and end-of-life care have been well documented by the Institute of Medicine. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), in partnership with Northwestern University, developed an educational curriculum for clinicians who deal with end-of-life issues, the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Oncology. A live meeting was held to distribute the curriculum to institutional leaders who could take it back to their organizations for broader distribution. ⋯ Eighty-four percent completed the post-activity evaluation survey. Satisfaction was very high among participants, and many indicated their intention to incorporate new knowledge into practice. Collaboration with a commonly used online medical education provider such as Medscape is effective at broadly disseminating palliative care education to health professionals.
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California Assembly Bill AB487 mandates that all practicing physicians are required to obtain 12 h of Continuing Medical Education in Pain Management and End of Life Care before the year 2006 in order to renew their state license to practice medicine. In order to determine the effectiveness of this bill in influencing the practice of medicine, we conducted the first of five planned annual Pain Management seminars and utilized physician questionnaires to determine possible practice changes as a result of this seminar. Eighty-one physicians representing 17 multiple specialties of medicine enrolled in this seminar. ⋯ This audience represents the most motivated group of practitioners electing to receive Pain Management Education long before the mandated deadline. Sixty-seven percent expressed an interest in changing their practice following this intensive educational experience. Ninety percent responding to the follow-up evaluation indicated that their practices had changed, suggesting that this seminar series is effective in altering physician practice patterns (supported by Cancer Center Support Grant CA 33572 and Sarnat Foundation).
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Privacy and confidentiality policies and practices, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) policies, may vary from institution to institution because they are developed to be institution-specific. HIPAA privacy and security regulations represent the minimum standards, and the expectation is that institutions will develop policies and practices that are reasonable and appropriate for their institution. These privacy and information security safeguards impact the use of sensitive and protected data often used by cancer educators. ⋯ HIPAA provides two sets of regulations that directly impact the work of many cancer educators: privacy and information security. The HIPAA Privacy Rule includes some security requirements, and HIPAA Security Regulations were designed to ensure privacy of the patient's protected health information (PHI). This paper focuses primarily on the privacy factors.