Development and pilot-testing of a colorectal cancer screening decision aid for individuals with varying health literacy levels.

OBJECTIVE: Making an informed decision about colorectal cancer screening requires health literacy. Our aim was to develop and pilot-test a computer-based decision aid to support informed decision making about whether or not to participate in colorectal cancer screening for individuals with varying health literacy levels in the Netherlands. METHODS: First, we designed and adapted the decision aid prototype among 25 individuals with low (n = 15) and adequate (n = 10) health literacy. Second, we used a before/after study to assess changes in knowledge, attitude, intention, decisional conflict, deliberation, anxiety and risk perception in an online survey among 81 individuals eligible for colorectal cancer screening with low (n = 35) and adequate (n = 46) health literacy. RESULTS: The decision aid was acceptable, comprehensible, reduced decisional conflict, increased deliberation and improved knowledge about colorectal cancer screening, but not about colorectal cancer, among individuals with adequate and low health literacy. Usability was slightly higher for participants with adequate health literacy compared to those with low health literacy. CONCLUSION: The decision aid is promising in supporting informed decision making about colorectal cancer screening, also among individuals with lower health literacy. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Further refinement of interactive features, such as videos, animations and the values clarification exercise, is needed to increase the usability of the decision aid.

Determinants of successful telemedicine implementations: a literature study.

Telemedicine implementations often remain in the pilot phase and do not succeed in scaling-up to robust products that are used in daily practice. We conducted a qualitative literature review of 45 conference papers describing telemedicine interventions in order to identify determinants that had influenced their implementation. The identified determinants, which would influence the future implementation of telemedicine interventions, can be classified into five major categories: (1) Technology, (2) Acceptance, (3) Financing, (4) Organization and (5) Policy and Legislation. Each category contains determinants that are relevant to different stakeholders in different domains. We propose a layered implementation model in which the primary focus on individual determinants changes throughout the development life cycle of the telemedicine implementation. For success, a visionary approach is required from the multidisciplinary stakeholders, which goes beyond tackling specific issues in a particular development phase. Thus the right philosophy is: 'start small, think big'.