This study aims to create and test an online learning tool to help people with cancer improve their skills in finding and understanding health information online. The main question it aims to answer is:
• Do people with cancer who use the online learning tool improve their skills more than those who don't use the tool?
The investigators will test this idea in a study. The investigators will put people into different groups by chance and compare the results. 660 people with cancer will participate. These people will be chosen to represent different types of cancer.
* Group 1: Uses the online learning too (3 versions) * Group 2: Uses a PDF with the same information * Control Group: Receives no intervention
What Participants Will Do:
Use the online tool or PDF to learn how to find reliable cancer information online.
Answer questions about their digital health skills before starting, after 2 weeks, and after 8 weeks.
Development:
Before the start of the main study the online tool will be developed and tested. The investigators will first show a prototype of the tool to two discussion groups and use their feedback to improve it. Then, experts and people with cancer will test the final version
cancer diagnosis
sufficient knowledge of the German language as all study content and questionnaires will be in German only
Participants must also have and be able to use a digital device (smartphone, tablet, PC, laptop, etc.) with an internet connection
Confirm consent to participate in the study
Patients who are severely cognitively impaired due to their cancer or other illness
Patients who are unable to operate a digital device
Parallel
intervention group 1.1 - e-learning
BehavioralThe e-learning environment will include text, images, and short videos created using Articulate Rise 360, an easy-to-use e-learning authoring tool, with the following content to improve the different skills of digital health literacy: 1. Evaluating reliability skills: Participants will get to know criteria and indicators for evaluating the content of the information they find and for assessing the trustworthiness of website providers. 2. Improving information skills: Participants will learn simple rules on how to optimize their Google searches. 3. Improving navigation skills: Participants will learn simple rules for navigation; using the back button; using more than one tab; drop-down lists and anchor links are introduced. 4. Additional goals are to raise awareness about various aspects related to online searches, including the exploration of alternative and complementary therapies, and the importance of data protection.
intervention-group 1.2 - e-learning
BehavioralParticipants are also given access to the e-learning environment. However, they will not be taken step-by-step through the content (tunneling). They can choose the order of the content.
intervention-group 1.3 - e-learning
BehavioralParticipants are also given access to the e-learning environment, but all rehearsal elements such as quizzes will be removed from the e-learning environment.
intervention-group 2 - PDF
BehavioralParticipants in IG2 will receive the same content as participants in the IG1.1, but not within the interactive learning environment, but in a non-interactive PDF format.
Change from baseline in the patient-reported digital health literacy measured by the Digital health literacy Instrument (DHLI) at 8 weeks
The primary outcome is the patient-reported digital health literacy based on the German version of the Digital health literacy Instrument (DHLI), resulting from the mean of the 21 items included. All 21 items are answered on a four-point scale (1="very difficult" to 4="very easy" and from 1="never" to 4="often"). A higher mean score indicates higher digital health literacy.
Digital health literacy measured with the performance-based items of the DHLI
The digital health literacy of the participants will also be measured using six performance-based items of the DHLI - one item each for the sub-skills: operational skills, navigation skills, evaluating reliability, information searching, determining relevance and protecting privacy. Responses will be coded as correct (score=1) or incorrect (score=0) and then the scores of all six items will be added together to form a total score.
Participants' motivation to use the e-learning environment measured with the Reduced Instructional Materials Motivation (RIMMS)
The RIMMS is a 4-dimensional (attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction), 12-item short version of the "Instructional Materials Motivation Survey". The items will be rated by the participants on a 5-point scale from 1="strongly disagree" to 5="strongly agree". The resulting mean value across all 12 items will be used for the overall assessment of motivation.
Acceptability of the e-learning environment as measured by the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) questionnaire.
The AIM contains 4 items that will be rated by the participants on a 5-point scale from 1 = "disagree" to 5 = "agree". Acceptability will be reported as the mean value of the four items, with a higher score indicating greater acceptance.
Appropriateness of the e-learning environment as measured by the Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM) questionnaire.
The IAM contains 4 items that will be rated by the participants on a 5-point scale from 1 = "disagree" to 5 = "agree". Appropriateness is presented as the mean value of the four items, with a higher score indicating greater appropriateness.
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Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
Lead sponsor
German Cancer Research Center
Collaborator
