Videos improve patient understanding of chemotherapy terminology in a rural setting

Abstract

Background It is critical patients understand the terms used to describe oncology treatments; however, even basic chemotherapy terminology can be misunderstood. Rural communities tend to have especially low levels of health literacy compared with nonrural communities. To address low health literacy in rural communities, this study tested rural participants' understanding of previously developed educational chemotherapy videos that were designed for an underserved urban population. Participants were also asked for feedback to determine if the videos could be improved. Methods Fifty English‐speaking patients who reside in counties classified as rural according to the Rural‐Urban Continuum Code designations (RUCC 4‐9) participated in the study. Participants were asked to define 6 chemotherapy terms before and after viewing a short, animated video explaining the term in English. Rates of correct and incorrect definitions provided by participants were also compared with previously published results from an urban cohort. Results All participants had statistically significantly higher rates of correct definitions for all 6 terms following the video intervention. Palliative chemotherapy understanding improved the most (10% correct prevideo and 76% postvideo intervention). For each video, the majority of participants (77%‐92%) suggested no changes to the videos. Conclusion Given the prevalence of low health literacy in rural communities, it is important to have effective educational interventions to improve the understanding of basic oncology‐treatment terminology. This study found that short, educational videos, originally designed for an underserved urban population, can significantly improve understanding of commonly misunderstood chemotherapy terminology in a rural setting as well. Lay Summary Chemotherapy terminology can be confusing to patients. Understanding can be especially difficult in areas with low health literacy, such as underserved urban and rural communities. To address this concern, previously developed short, animated videos describing basic chemotherapy terminology were found to improve patient understanding in an underserved urban setting. In this study, the videos were tested in a rural population and their effectiveness was established. Participants in the rural setting were significantly more likely to correctly define all 6 tested terms after watching the videos. Educational tools for high‐need populations are essential to ensure patients can understand the treatment they receive.

Dissemination of validated health literacy videos: A tailored approach

“…Each of the three Winship Network sites are in counties categorized as RUCC 3 (Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population) but each border on RUCC 6 counties (Nonmetro—Urban population of 2500 to 19,999, adjacent to a metro area) and RUCC 8 counties (Nonmetro—Completely rural or less than 2500 urban population, adjacent to a metro area). Our previous study testing the videos at these three sites easily accrued only rural patients (those living in RUCC 4‐9 counties) 16 . As is well known, rural populations have higher poverty rates and fewer high school graduates, which is true of rural Georgia 20…”

“…Our previous study testing the videos at these three sites easily accrued only rural patients (those living in RUCC 4-9 counties). 16 As is well known, rural populations have higher poverty rates and fewer high school graduates, which is true of rural Georgia. 20 Eligible clinicians at Winship included both those treating solid tumors and hematological disorders.…”

“…Since videos have been proven successful at increasing patients’ levels of understanding of complex terminology, we developed short, animated videos to explain key terminology of chemotherapy treatment. After testing these videos in both an urban and rural population, the results indicated that they significantly improved patient understanding 15,16 . However, although the videos are freely downloadable on CancerQuest (https://www.cancerquest.org/media-center/videos/cancer-treatment-terms), they will be more helpful if appropriately disseminated.…”

Targeted Palliative Care Accessibility Models for patients in a resource‐limited setting: Review of alternatives in inaccessible zones

“…First, the study on rural palliative care conducted in rural North India by Munday et al, 2 highlights the creation of a program using the mixed method approach (MMA). 2 Two extremely important highlights of their Meanwhile, in another article, Sibold et al 5 demonstrated that previously developed short animated videos describing basic chemotherapy terminology may improve patient understanding in an underserved urban setting. This could be also modified based on language and cultural characteristics to make people from a rural setting/resource-limited setting understand terms and concerns of palliative care therapy in cancer patients, since the complex terminology can be confusing to patients and their local caregivers.…”

“…This could be also modified based on language and cultural characteristics to make people from a rural setting/resource-limited setting understand terms and concerns of palliative care therapy in cancer patients, since the complex terminology can be confusing to patients and their local caregivers. 5 These mentioned models [2][3][4] and examples [2][3][4][5] of palliative care between inaccessible case zones in low-cost and resource-limited settings draw our attention to the palliative care provided to individuals suffering from oncological problems (Figure 1). We thank the authors on their studies and possible models for the elaboration and implementation of new public health policies in this field.…”