Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence
The population-level implementation of innovative, evidence-based medical recommendations for adopting health-behaviors depends on the last link in the translation chain: the users. “User-friendly” medical interventions aimed at engaging users to adopt recommended health behaviors are best developed...
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doaj-8380003a72174055b0a7fa0a0bd0c0982021-08-06T15:23:01ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-07-01187883788310.3390/ijerph18157883Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse AdherenceLea Hagoel0Gad Rennert1Efrat Neter2Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Carmel Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa 3436212, IsraelDepartment of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Carmel Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa 3436212, IsraelDepartment of Behavioral Sciences, Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer 4025000, IsraelThe population-level implementation of innovative, evidence-based medical recommendations for adopting health-behaviors depends on the last link in the translation chain: the users. “User-friendly” medical interventions aimed at engaging users to adopt recommended health behaviors are best developed in a collaborative bio-medical and social sciences setting. In the 1990s, National Breast and Colorectal Cancer Early Detection Programs were launched at the Israeli Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology. Operating under the largest HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) in Israel (“Clalit Health Services”), the department had direct access to HMO community primary-care clinics’ teams, insured members, and medical records. Academically affiliated, the department engaged in translational research. In a decades-long translational process, this multi-disciplinary unit led a series of interventions built upon basic and applied behavioral/social science phenomena such as framing, “Implementation Intentions,” and “Question-Behavior-Effect”. A heterogeneous team of disciplinary specialists created an integrated scientific environment. In order to enhance screening, the team focused on the establishment of a systematic mechanism actively inviting programs’ “users” (average-risk targeted individuals on the national level), and continuously applied social and health psychology concepts to study individuals’ perceptions, expectations, and needs related to cancer screening. The increase in adherence to screening recommendations was slow and incremental. A decrease in late-stage breast and colorectal cancer diagnoses was observed nationally, but participation was lower than expected. This paper positions screening adherence as a unique challenge and proposes new social and network avenues to enhance future participation.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/7883cancer early detectioncancer screeningcommunicationinterdisciplinarypublic healthtranslational medical science |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lea Hagoel Gad Rennert Efrat Neter |
spellingShingle |
Lea Hagoel Gad Rennert Efrat Neter Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health cancer early detection cancer screening communication interdisciplinary public health translational medical science |
author_facet |
Lea Hagoel Gad Rennert Efrat Neter |
author_sort |
Lea Hagoel |
title |
Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence |
title_short |
Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence |
title_full |
Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence |
title_fullStr |
Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence |
title_full_unstemmed |
Translational Research in Cancer Screening: Long-Term Population-Action Bridges to Diffuse Adherence |
title_sort |
translational research in cancer screening: long-term population-action bridges to diffuse adherence |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1661-7827 1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
The population-level implementation of innovative, evidence-based medical recommendations for adopting health-behaviors depends on the last link in the translation chain: the users. “User-friendly” medical interventions aimed at engaging users to adopt recommended health behaviors are best developed in a collaborative bio-medical and social sciences setting. In the 1990s, National Breast and Colorectal Cancer Early Detection Programs were launched at the Israeli Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology. Operating under the largest HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) in Israel (“Clalit Health Services”), the department had direct access to HMO community primary-care clinics’ teams, insured members, and medical records. Academically affiliated, the department engaged in translational research. In a decades-long translational process, this multi-disciplinary unit led a series of interventions built upon basic and applied behavioral/social science phenomena such as framing, “Implementation Intentions,” and “Question-Behavior-Effect”. A heterogeneous team of disciplinary specialists created an integrated scientific environment. In order to enhance screening, the team focused on the establishment of a systematic mechanism actively inviting programs’ “users” (average-risk targeted individuals on the national level), and continuously applied social and health psychology concepts to study individuals’ perceptions, expectations, and needs related to cancer screening. The increase in adherence to screening recommendations was slow and incremental. A decrease in late-stage breast and colorectal cancer diagnoses was observed nationally, but participation was lower than expected. This paper positions screening adherence as a unique challenge and proposes new social and network avenues to enhance future participation. |
topic |
cancer early detection cancer screening communication interdisciplinary public health translational medical science |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/7883 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT leahagoel translationalresearchincancerscreeninglongtermpopulationactionbridgestodiffuseadherence AT gadrennert translationalresearchincancerscreeninglongtermpopulationactionbridgestodiffuseadherence AT efratneter translationalresearchincancerscreeninglongtermpopulationactionbridgestodiffuseadherence |
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