Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women comprising 32% of all cancer diagnosis. The incidence of breast cancer has been slowly increasing. Women have a 1 in 7 lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (American Cancer Society, 2004). On the positive side, advances in research have affected survival rates; women with breast cancer are living longer and dealing with the aftermath of their treatments. Many women are using the internet for educational information, support groups, and treatment choices. With this in mind, three Breast cancer sites were reviewed for content and a discussion of the possible impact on the information to health care providers follows the analysis.
Y- Me National Breast Cancer Organization (http://www.y-me.org) provides online material in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese. Content includes prevention, diagnosis methods, and interpretation of terminology on pathology reports, treatment options, and symptom management. An added feature is the 800 number; one speaks with a breast cancer survivor who is a trained peer counselor or e-mail their questions for a response.
No medical advice is given during this interaction. The Resource page provides multimedia education on any topic concerning breast cancer. This is actually a link to Healthology Incorporated that distributes health education material authored by physicians. However, this feature is only available in English. Additionally, the consumer can register to attend teleconferences on specific topics presented by a health care professional. The site provides numerous links to several cancer sites; government, university sponsored, nonprofit organizations, and independent websites. Four sites were found to comply with the HON (Health on the Net Foundation) code of ethics one is named Cancerpage.
com which is the second site evaluated.
Cancerpage.com (http://www.cancerpage.com) offers material on all types of cancer. Just like the Y- Me website, consumers can access a wealth of information including end of life issues. An interesting feature of this site is the Cancer Decision Treatment Tools. This offers the consumer the option to submit information on his/her type of cancer such as stage, pathology results, previous treatment, and brief medical history. Once submitted the consumer will receive a brief treatment options report delineating each treatment option, the side effects and questions to ask his/her physician. The purpose of this tool is to provide direction to the patient when discussing his/her diagnosis with the physician. This site also provides an opportunity for consumers to ask questions and receive answers from an oncology nurse via email.
OncoLink (http://www.oncolink.com) is a website managed by the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The content is similar to Cancerpage.com. Resources and links to other sites comprise of government,pharmaceutical companies and nonprofit organizations. Additional information devoted to financial issues such as life insurance and dealing with catastrophic illness is included which was not found on the previous two sites. The consumer has the option of subscribing to any of the list servers covering billing, private and Medicare reimbursement. The consumer has only to submit their email address, first and last name. Another feature of OncoLink is the continuing medical information for health care providers. Course material from the 2004 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is featured with continuing education credits issued upon completion of the course online.
I felt that all sites provided adequate, reliable and more than enough information regarding breast cancer. The Y-Me site was easier to navigate and content was written with simple language. The video streaming feature for education would be attractive to individuals who do not like to read and the interactive test your knowledge at the end of the program provides immediate feedback. OncoLink and Cancerpage.com are both excellent sites but I thought that for an individual with a high school or less education, these sites would be too advanced. They are appropriate for nurses or other health care providers whose interest is in providing quality care and information to patients.
The impact of the information provided on these sites will affect health care providers positively and negatively. We are challenged to remain current and up to date in the new developments on cancer care. Our patients have the access to the same information, which includes research studies. We will need to be able to respond intelligently and critically to the questions our patients ask as they become more knowledgeable about their disease, treatment options, and financial issues.
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