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Health-e VOICE. A Web-Based Clinical Risk Communication Distance Learning Tool. BACKGROUND. Military personnel returning from tactical deployments and wartime service often describe disabling medical symptoms.
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Health-e VOICE A Web-Based Clinical Risk CommunicationDistance Learning Tool
BACKGROUND • Military personnel returning from tactical deployments and wartime service often describe disabling medical symptoms. • Most of these ailments are classified as “Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS)” • Health care providers tend to diagnose MUPS as an outcome of stress or other psychological causes. • For many veterans with post-deployment health concerns, the diagnosis of “stress” can be an invalidating and infuriating experience which may lead to mistrust in the care providers and the health system.
BACKGROUND - cont. Reasons for conflicting explanations by the health care providers: • Lack of provider awareness of the importance of clinical risk communication, • Insufficient provider knowledge, skills and abilities in risk analysis. • Lack of provider time with the patient.
NEED FOR THE PROGRAM • There is minimal research concerning effective strategies that would improve communications of health risks in clinical setting. • Currently, web-based tools specifically designed to enhance health care providers’ clinical risk communication skills do not exist. • To fill this void, a team at the DoD Deployment Health Clinical Center along with associates from other participating agencies are developing a web-based interactive tool called the Health-e VOICE.
Health-e VOICE The major goal of this project is to use a web-based interactive distance - learning tool to increase Department of Defense (DoD) health care provider effectiveness when communicating with recently deployed veterans about deployment related health concerns.
DEVELOPMENT OF Health-e VOICE • Qualitative research using focus groups will be utilized. • “Mental models” theory will be used to identify provider and patient… • knowledge, • beliefs, • misconceptions, and • values regarding deployment related health concerns and MUPS.
FOCUS GROUPS Will comprise of: • Physicians, • Other health care providers, • Previously deployed veterans with deployment related health concerns and their spouses, • Previously deployed veterans without deployment related health concerns.
FOCUS GROUP LOCATIONS • Fort Bragg, North Carolina • Wilford Hall Medical Center, Texas • Ft Lewis/McChord AFB, Washington • WRAMC, Washington, DC • Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, USPACOM • Landstuhl Medical Center, Germany, USEUCOM
CONCLUSION • The Health-e VOICE distance learning tool is based on the hypothesis that improved clinical risk communication may • alleviate unnecessary patient distress and physical health concerns, • reduce frustration and tension in the doctor-patient relationship, and • increase trust in care providers and the federal health care system. • A web based program would reach a broad provider audience.