The National Institutes of Health recently awarded AEI a grant to conduct large-scale, multiyear development of web-based sexuality education materials. This is not your father’s sex ed! Visit www.wstdtv.com for more information. { read more }
The Academic Edge
Next-Generation Educational Media Development
AEI to Create Web-Enhanced Comprehensive Sexuality Educational Materials for Middle Schools
November 16th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Should Recruitment Materials for HIV Study Participants Be More Balanced?
November 16th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
AEI has engaged in a collaboration with researchers at Indiana University to investigate the effects of messaging “sidedness.” How does presenting a “balanced” message, one that emphasizes negative aspects of participation in addition to positive ones, affect willingness to participate AND participant understanding. Simple graphics, clear messaging: sure you have to have those! But, what’s the effect of telling someone about incorrect beliefs, rather than just the facts?
You have a 50% chance of being in the experimental group.
VERSUS
You know, many people believe they have a greater than 50% chance of receiving the experimental vaccine, but, its true, you only have a 50% chance of being in the experimental group.
The first is simpler; the second directly { read more }
PDPT for you and me: Creating packaging for expedited partner services
November 16th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Psst, wanna take some extra drugs home to your partner? That’s the premise behind an increasingly common healthcare practice supported by the CDC. In patient-delivered partner therapy, health care providers offer extra prescription medicine to patients so that the patients can take some home to treat their sexual partners. The patient is cured; the partner is cured. Its a win-win situation, but what should the package look like that you take home to your partner and what should it say?
That’s the goal of an ongoing project to develop packaging and educational materials to support PDPT among providers, patients, and partners.
In preliminary efforts, AEI formatively developed and evaluated an integrated packaging system. As reported in a recent edition of the Journal of Sexually Transmitted Infections, the { read more }
Congratulations, You’ve Got Chlamydia! Would You Treat Your Partner?
November 16th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Most people in the United States say they would take additional prescription medicine to their partner if they themselves were diagnosed with an STI and treated. So called Patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) is an up and coming healthcare practice meant to decrease the prevalence of Chlamydia and reducing rates of reinfection.
AEI recently conducted a research study to understand whether healthcare consumers would be willing to either give extra prescription medication to their partners or to take such medication if a partner offered it to them. The researchers also sought to identify things that influence willingness to participate.
The results of the study were recently published by AEI researcher Richard Goldsworthy and frequent AEI collaborator J. Dennis Fortenberry, from the Indiana University School of { read more }
6 for 6! AEI at the 2008 American Public Health Conference
November 16th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Academic Edge, Inc. went 6 for 6 in abstract submissions to the 2008 American Public Health Association annual conference. That’s a pretty seriously good batting average and we’ll be presenting some pretty seriously good research and development.
First up, an entire session of presentations on Expedited Partner Services, including the following:
Next, we have Peter Honebein and colleagues presenting the R&D results from their state-of-the-art web-based course Just Ask: SBIRT.
Finally, Drs. Goldsworthy, Honebein, and Schwartz will be discussing the evaluation of Every Square Inch: Preventing Pressure Ulcers, a DVD that targets increasing home care providers looking for and taking steps to prevent pressure ulcers among their patients.
Come visit the researchers in San Diego during the { read more }
New Birth Defects Warning Label Trumps Label Currently in Use
November 14th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Should a new symbol be coming to a birth defect hazard near you?
The warning label in use on Accutane(tm) and other teratogenic pharmaceuticals performed significantly worse than a newly developed label reports a recently completed study among more than 2000 adults throughout the United States.
Previous research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that the warning in use on isotetrenoin (e.g. Accutane) and other pharmaceuticals linked to birth defects was not being understood well, leading to increased risks among healthcare consumers.
The current study tested the label in use against a series of newly developed labels. “We wanted to determine whether some of the newer symbols on the labels would perform better than the existing one. The newer ones were grounded in theory and { read more }
WSTDtv CD-ROM Awarded 2005 BESSIE Award
November 13th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
The Academic Edge, Inc. has been awarded a 2005 EDDIE Award for their newest software title “WSTDtv.”
The EDDIES awards recognize innovative and content-rich programs that are appropriate for use by educators to augment the classroom curriculum and to improve teacher productivity. Selection is based on academic content, potential for broad classroom use, technical merit, subject approach, and quality of management system.
Winners are selected from titles submitted from publishers from around the world. All winning titles are made available to school districts, teachers, and the public through { read more }
1 in 5 People Admit to Sharing Prescription Drugs
November 13th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Do you share prescription medicine? Looks like you are not alone. AEI examined prevalence and types of prescription medication sharing among the general U.S. population, ages 12-44.
The study (read study ยป), published in the American Journal of Public Health has received national attention for its role in indentifying previously under-the-radar public health risks. 1 in 4 individuals reported sharing prescription medications and risks included loss of warnings, negative impact on patient-provider interactions, and birth defects and other hazards.
“Such sharing can easily affect people’s health, putting them at risk for a wide array of possible consequences,” said { read more }
New Birth Defects Warning Bests Existing Warning in Head-to-Head Competition
March 4th, 2009 by Richard C. Goldsworthy
Birth defects are a terrible thing. Avoiding birth defects is a good thing. Labels and warning symbols that are supposed to let us know about birth defects hazards were found to be not terribly effective in previous CDC research.
AEI made new warning symbols and labels and a recently completed nationwide study indicates that the new warnings are often considerably more effective than the existing one.
Better warnings, better healthcare consumer understanding. That’s why we do the things we do. { read more }
