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Enhancing Access to Cancer Education for Rural Healthcare Providers via Telehealth

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Abstract

Healthcare providers serving rural populations face numerous barriers to accessing educational programming. Difficulties accessing continuing professional education contribute to the challenges of providing comprehensive health care in the rural setting. Telehealth can inform and educate rural providers about changes in medicine and evidence-based practices, both of which may help them provide quality care. The Native People for Cancer Control Telehealth Network used telehealth technology to deliver a cancer education series in 2008 and 2009 to Washington and Alaska rural healthcare providers who treated American Indians and Alaska Native people. Customizing presentation content to providers’ educational needs encouraged attendance. Evaluation indicated videoconferencing technology was positively received for delivery of the educational sessions. This series demonstrated videoconferencing was a satisfactory means of delivering real-time, interactive cancer educational programming to providers who might not otherwise have access to such programs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Office for the Advancement of Telehealth’s Telehealth Network Grant Program HRSA Grant # H2ATH07752 and R42 CA141875.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Ardith Z. Doorenbos & George Demiris

  2. Department of Global Health, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Ardith Z. Doorenbos

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Anjana Kundu

  4. Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA

    Anjana Kundu

  5. School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Linda H. Eaton

  6. Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    George Demiris

  7. School of Nursing, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Emily A. Haozous

  8. School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Cara Towle

  9. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Dedra Buchwald

Authors
  1. Ardith Z. Doorenbos
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  2. Anjana Kundu
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  3. Linda H. Eaton
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  4. George Demiris
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  5. Emily A. Haozous
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  6. Cara Towle
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  7. Dedra Buchwald
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Correspondence to Ardith Z. Doorenbos.

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Doorenbos, A.Z., Kundu, A., Eaton, L.H. et al. Enhancing Access to Cancer Education for Rural Healthcare Providers via Telehealth. J Canc Educ 26, 682–686 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-011-0204-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-011-0204-4

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