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Helping seniors take control of their care
Tuesday, October 02, 2001 By Virginia Peden
A Duquesne University researcher is studying whether using the Internet to find more health information can help older patients take better control of their own care.
"The elderly want to give all control to their physicians, and I would like to show them how to control their own health care," said Robert J. Campbell, an instructor in health management systems in Duquesne's School of Health Sciences.
"A lot of seniors see the need and appreciate the information."
Campbell began his research project in June and plans to present preliminary findings in November at the American Medical Informatics Association meeting in Washington D.C.
As part of the project, he has been teaching seniors free classes at the Mt. Lebanon Public Library, at OASIS senior center in Downtown Kaufmann's and at the Vintage senior center in East Liberty. More are scheduled.
"I'm doing a case study of the Mt. Lebanon class, to see how the Internet is being used by the elderly in terms of their health," he said.
So far, reactions have been mixed. One of his students told him that he now goes to the doctor with a lot more questions. Others, however, have said they feel the doctors react with arrogance when they ask questions.
At the beginning of the program, he asks students about their relationships with doctors and where they get their health information, their level of anxiety toward computers and whether they can learn to search the Internet.
After five weeks of training that teaches them to use the computer and to conduct Web searches, he follows with another questionnaire.
He then tracks their progress to see if they are using the computer to find medical information. Campbell will follow up to determine if this training has changed the students' relationship with their doctors.
He said he may look later at a program that would include the physicians' views.
Campbell provides medically related Web sites that would be of particular interest to seniors, including sites on medications that explain how they're used and side effects.
"It's important to note that 7,000 Americans die annually from medication errors or from the adverse effect a drug has on their system," Campbell said. Each new drug has the power to cure or to do irreparable harm.
"To further promote levels of safety, health consumers can use the Internet to investigate their hospitals, health plans and physicians. They can even identify symptoms and learn to ask intelligent questions."
He said the information that seniors get from the Internet can help them to make choices about treatments. Doctors do not always have time to explain treatments or prescriptions. They also may not explain things simply.
For more information about the project, call Campbell at 412-396-4767.
Virginia Peden is a free-lance writer.
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