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education Prostate cancer booklet helps patients understand treatment options The American Cancer Society, Great Lakes Division, is on the Michigan Cancer Consortium’s team to effectively fight cancer and avoid duplicating efforts. One of the consortium’s ten priorities focuses on prostate cancer, the second most common cancer for men in the United States.  To help Michiganders fight prostate cancer, an action committee was charged with meeting a measurable target. By 2006, they aspired to determine what men knew about prostate cancer and use that information to create valuable educational materials for residents. The group had their work cut out for them. Surveys showed that men knew little about prostate cancer and its treatment options, and that existing educational materials did not provide all the information a new patient would need to make informed decisions. Reading levels were too technical for the average person to understand and treatment side effects were described in vague verbal descriptions instead of numerical facts. The committee was driven by these shortcomings to create a completely new booklet that would meet two objectives:
In 2004, two years before their deadline, the group published a 25 page booklet called Making the Choice: Deciding What to Do About Early Stage Prostate Cancer. Their work, funded by the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earned acceptance from healthcare professionals because of its unbiased information. "We hope that it will really help patients tell their physicians what they’re the most concerned about and what they would like to accomplish and work through together," said Margaret Holmes-Rovner, professor of health services research at Michigan State University and member of the prostate cancer action committee. The booklet was translated in Spanish and Arabic and distributed to all urologist and radiation oncologist offices in Michigan. Online (http://www.prostatecancerdecision.org) and audio CD versions are also available. Michigan residents can request copies for free on the website or by calling 800-249-0314. Non-Michigan resident may order up to 20 booklets, one audio cassette, and one poster with the shipping and handling fee. Larger orders need to go through the Michigan Public Health Institute Cancer Control Services Program at 517-324-7300. For more information about prostate cancer, visit www.cancer.org. | |
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