Communication & Decision-Making Research

Using Community-Engaged Methods to Design a Tool to Promote Informed Breast Cancer Screening Decisions for Low Literacy Women

This K07 career development award aims to provide training and conduct research using community-engaged methods to develop and test a multi-media decision aid to promote informed decision-making among women ages 40-54 with low health literacy who are eligible for breast cancer screening. The research aims will provide novel data on individual experiences with informed decision-making and the effects of a decision aid on patient-centered outcomes among a low health literacy population.

Developing Educational Materials for Women with Dense Breasts Using a Multi-Stakeholder Approach

This pilot study will partner with multiple community and clinician stakeholders to design and test an educational session and related materials for women with dense breasts using focus groups and pre-post surveys. The research proposed will generate data to develop a multi-level intervention to assess the impact of patient education +/- provider education on decisional, behavioral, informational and health system outcomes.

Assessing Opportunities for Tailored Risk Communication about Fentanyl Use & Overdose: The Role of Gender, Age and Competing Risks

This project uses qualitative interviews to explore people’s experiences and preferences for receiving risk communication messages about the use of fentanyl. We will interview individuals who use fentanyl who are between the ages of 18-25 and those > 35 and sampling equal numbers of males and females in each group to explore variation in experiences by age and gender. Interviews will also elicit individuals’ concerns about risks in their lives and how these relate to their concerns about overdose. A sample of community outreach workers and clinical providers who treat persons with substance use disorder will also be interviewed to identify strategies they use to communicate about the risks of fentanyl and overdose.