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Brief Summary

The Patient activation through health information project aims to improve healthcare utilization patterns by creating a preventative mindset and enhancing access to healthcare through community engagement and technology. It proposes to accomplish this through two main interventions: implementing an electronic personal health record (PHR) application designed for cancer and general prevention, and developing a faith-based health network to maintain continuous bi-directional interaction between individuals and healthcare institutions. The study hypothesizes that by generating trust through leveraging community connections and engaging participants with their health data through technology, patients can be activated with their own health, leading to the development of a preventative mindset and increased engagement with preventive healthcare services.

Expanded Summary

Background and Objectives

The "Patient Activation through Health Information" project addresses the challenge of improving healthcare utilization patterns and outcomes in the general population. The project recognizes that despite improvements in insurance coverage, barriers to healthcare engagement persist, pointing to deeper issues in how individuals interact with the healthcare system.

The project identifies two major components contributing to these challenges:

  1. The immediacy of other needs in people's lives, which may overshadow the importance of future, abstract health outcomes.
  2. A lack of trust, knowledge of, and communication with the healthcare system, which can create barriers to engagement.

The primary objective of the project is to impact healthcare utilization patterns by:

  1. Creating a preventative mindset towards health
  2. Improving access to healthcare
  3. Enhancing the relationship between individuals and the healthcare system

Project Hypothesis

The project hypothesizes that by generating trust through leveraging community connections, and by engaging participants with their health data through technology, we can activate patients with their own health and generate a preventative mindset. This approach aims to make health more concrete and immediate, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement in one's health journey.

Proposed Interventions

The study proposes two main interventions:

  1. Implementation of an electronic personal health record (PHR) application:
  2. Development of a faith-based health network: