Cancer CAM: Web-Based Nursing Education on CAM

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nurses increasingly encounter cancer patients interested in supplementing conventional treatments with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The Cancer CAM continuing education program will offer nurses and health educators convenient and accessible continuing education opportunities related to understanding, evaluating and communication about CAM in their practice. Grounded in the tenets of adult education, Cancer CAM will use a web-based environment to improve nurses and health educators knowledge and self-efficacy regarding communicating about CAM to both patients and physicians. Phase I prototype testing indicated that such a program can make significant changes in these factors. In Phase II the lessons learned in the Phase I feasibility demonstration will be used to revise the prototype user interface and fine-tune the presentation approach. HealthMark will develop a complete program consisting of 12 modules, each addressing a specific issue regarding cancer and CAM. The program will be submitted for nursing continuing education hours and CHES credits, then tested with nurses and health educators to determine self-reported changes in knowledge, self-efficacy and practice after one month of access to the program.