Pain is one of the most dreaded sequelae of a cancer diagnosis. An estimated 30 to 50% of patients undergoing current treatment for a solid tumor and from 70 to 90% of patients with advance disease experience pain. In this Phase I SBIR, HealthMark Multimedia will develop a prototype interactive media education and self-management program for persons experiencing cancer pain and their caregiving family members. This interactive support system will assist the patient and caregiver in participating with their health care team in the pain management process. Phase I research activities will assess the feasibility of designing an interactive product that will help persons with cancer and their caregiver to 1) understand and communicate the patient's pain needs and 2) participate in the management of the pain. In Phase I, focus will be on development and testing of the prototype CD-ROM. A formative evaluation will help sharpen the translation of patient caregiver needs to multimedia format. The prototype feasibility test will examine user acceptance and short term knowledge and self-efficacy gain. By providing patients and caregivers with information and interactive tools to focus their learning, decision making and planning, the proposed product will fill a need in patient education.
