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A study
that aims to improve the communication skills of primary care
physicians in relating to African American patients suffering
from depression is underway at the Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine.
"Compared
to Caucasian patients, African Americans are more likely to
receive care for depression from a primary care physician,
rather than from a specialist," said Dr. Lisa Cooper,
lead investigator of the three-year study.
"This
may explain why measures of quality care for depression are
lower among African Americans. Research suggests that differences
in communication between African American patients and their
primary care doctors account for at least some of these poorer
outcomes," she said.
The project,
"Using Patient-Provider Communication Skills Training
to Improve Depression Care for African Americans," will
create a CD-ROM using actors and physicians to depict treatment
for African American patients with depression.
"We'll
recruit 30 physicians to work with the CD-ROM to improve their
communication skills in this area and we will evaluate data
collected by simulated patients at baseline, three months,
six months and 12 months," said Cooper.
The project
is funded by a grant from the Aetna Foundation as part of
an effort to identify and test practical means of reducing
or eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health status
and the delivery of health care.
Source:
Depression Week
of April 21, 2002
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