Speaking books talk about clinical trials
2010-06-18
Researchers behind a project using 'speaking books' to improve knowledge of what it means to be involved in a clinical trial amongst those with poor literacy in Uganda presented their research at a conference on medical ethics held in Uppsala this week.
Researchers from the Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda developed a ‘speaking book’ in partnership with the World Medical Association, the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics and the South African Medical Association. The book was presented at the conference "Is Medical Ethics Really in the Best Interest of the Patient" held in Uppsala on June 14-16.
The conducted a clinical trial of the use of the speaking book to see how it improved knowledge about clinical trials amongst potential participants with poor literacy skills. It was found that the group of people who used the speaking books for a week had significantly improved knowledge of what is involved in participation in a clinical trial than the group exposed to a standard informed consent discussion. Added to which, every one person who used the book, introduced it to at least 8 other people amongst their family and friends.
The books are colourful picture narratives, which describe what to expect when taking part in a clinical trial and the rights and responsibilities of the participant and the people running the trial. The information is presented in pictures and text but most importantly corresponding audio descriptions can be easily accessed by pressing a button mounted on the right of the book which is identified as corresponding to the relevant page by matching images.
Multi-media educational tool (speaking book) increases knowledge of clinical trials among HIV-positive patients in Kampala, Uganda
By:
Gavin Robertson 1; Soeren Rasmussen 2; Richard Hubbard 2; Kevin Newell 3; Margaret Denty 1; Yukari Manabe 1
1Makerere University, Infectious Diseases Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Kampala, Uganda; 2Pfizer, Inc, Medical Division, New York, United States; 3Clinical Monitoring Research Program, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States
Find out more about this very interesting project >
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