 "Healthy Measures"
Newsletter of the Department of Medical Social SciencesInnovating & Applying Social Science Methodologies to Improve HealthFall/Winter 2010
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Welcome to the inaugural newsletter of the Department of Medical Social Sciences, designed to keep you informed of the latest news of our department.
About Us... Established in March, 2009, the Department of Medical Social Sciences provides a unique scientific home for applied researchers who integrate biomedical and social science approaches to improvement of health and health care delivery across the lifespan. Click on this image to learn more about our Scientific Themes on our website.
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 Study addresses research needs in Spanish-speaking patients
Elizabeth Hahn, Associate Professor
Because most questionnaire administration methods require reading skills, patients with low literacy are often excluded from participating. Similarly, despite efforts by the National Cancer Institute and other agencies, Hispanic/Latino and other racial/ethnic minority patients are not representatively included in cancer research.
We recently conducted a study to address all of these research needs in Spanish-speaking patients. We developed and validated a multimedia touchscreen program ("La Pantalla Parlanchina") that enables patients with diverse literacy and computer skills to self-administer health questionnaires. This health information technology will extend eligibility for future research and provide greater opportunities to measure patient-reported outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in more diverse patient populations.
For more information, see: Hahn, E. A., Du, H., Garcia, S. F., Choi, S. W., Lai, J. S., Victorson, D., & Cella, D. (January 01, 2010). Literacy-fair measurement of health-related quality of life will facilitate comparative effectiveness research in Spanish-speaking cancer outpatients. Medical Care, 48, 6, 75-82. See abstract in PubMed
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Grant Award
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Multidimensional Model of Parental Social Cognitive Processes: Implications for Parenting
Principal Investigator Carri Hill, PhD
More about this grant>>
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People
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Susan Yount, PhD, Director of Research Operations in MSS was recently named Associate Professor. Her research interests include the development and application of measures of quality of life, symptoms, and health status in chronic illness. She is the Principal Investigator of a National Cancer Institute-funded R01, "Weekly Symptom Telemanagement in Advanced Lunch Cancer" a four-year randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a computer-assisted telephone survey system to monitor lung cancer patients' symptoms and generate a summary report in "real-time" for use by physicians in the clinical management of their patients. Dr. Yount was Co-investigator and Scientific Project Director of the Statistical Coordinating Center of the NIH Roadmap cooperative group initiative to develop a Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) from 2004-2009 and is Co-investigator and Executive Project Director for the current PROMIS Statistical Center, 2009-2013. Zeeshan Butt, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, was selected to serve at the first Chair of the Early Career Professionals Council for the American Psychological Association - Division 38 (Health Psychology) for a term lasting 2011-2013. Dr. Butt also received Poster of Distinction awards at the American Transplant Congress in San Diego, CA, June 2010 and the annual meeting of the American Associations for the Study of Liver Diseases October, 2010 and was selected as Distinguished Fellow, OBSSR/NIH Summer Training Institute on Randomized Clinical Trials Involving Behavioral Interventions in July, 2010.
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Assessment Center, an online research management tool created by the Department of Medical Social Sciences, released a new version of the software in September 2010.
Visit Assessment Center to learn more >> |
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Events
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December 13-14, 2010Translational mini-bootcamp on "The Science of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs): Methodology, Technique & Application" Steven Luck, PhD, Professor of Psychology & Director, Center for Mind & Brain at University of California at Davis.
A One Northwestern event sponsored by the Department of Medical Social Sciences, the T32 Training Grant in the Neuroscience of Human Cognition and the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.
Contact Rebekah Abel, Developmental Mechanisms Research Program Manager at r-abel@northwestern.edu
January 18, 2011
Assessment Center workshop
full-day session providing basics of Item Response Theory (IRT), Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) and Assessment Center.
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MSS Collaborates with NUTORC and CTC
Our department is one of the collaborators at work with the Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC) and the Comprehensive Transplant Center. More >>
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