NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

One of the pivotal goals of consumer health literacy efforts is to design educational materials that attract as well as educate users. In this Assignment, you design a health information document on a topic that is of interest to you. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

To prepare:

Select a health issue of interest to you.
Identify the audience or population that you seek to educate about this issue.
Search the Internet to find credible sites containing information about your selected topic.
Review the two health literacy websites listed in this week’s Learning Resources. Focus on strategies for presenting information.

To complete: NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

Design an educational handout on the health issue you selected.
- Include a cover page.
- Include an introduction that provides:
  - An explanation of your issue and why you selected it
  - A description of the audience you are addressing
- In the handout itself:
  - Develop your handout in such a way that it attracts the attention of the intended audience.
  - Include a description of the health issue and additional content that will enhance your message (i.e., key terms and definitions, graphics, illustrations, etc.).
  - Recommend four or five sites that provide clear, valuable, and reliable information on the topic.

NURS 6051: Transforming Nursing and Healthcare through Technology Sample Paper

Developing a Health Information Patient Handout
Dr. Mary Rodgers
Walden University
Stanley Okeyemi

With the range of diseases that exist in our society today, breast cancer likely remains one of the most popular diseases known by many, even around the world. The National Breast Cancer Foundation states that “1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. There is currently no known cure for breast cancer, and its early diagnosis is critical to survival. Breast cancer can commonly be diagnosed in clinical settings through Mammogram, Ultrasound, MRI, Biopsy, and some additional lab tests.” NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

The intensity of mortality by this disease was further elaborated on that “each year in the United States, about 220,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women, and about 40,000 women die from it yearly. Breast cancer is not only limited to women. About 2,000 men are diagnosed yearly in the U.S, with 400 men dying from it” (CDC, 2016). With the alarming rate of this occurrence, a further look into the work of Reeder-Hayes, Wheeler, and Mayer (2015) shows that “even though African American women now receive screening mammography at least as often as white women, there remains a persistent problem of health disparities in breast cancer care and outcomes.

Mortality rates remain higher among African-American women, despite the fact that breast cancer incidence is higher in white women. Such data suggest that racial differences in biology, receipt of appropriate and timely treatment and follow-up care, and other non–cancer-related conditions may account for differences in all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality.” These analyses reveal that the burden of breast cancer is not shared equally among all women. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

“Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide. In some regions, including Europe and Australia, it is the most common cause of death from cancer in women. Mortality rates have started to decline in some regions not only because of improvements in early detection and treatment but also because of improvements in the delivery of care” (Bertero & Wilmoth, 2007 pp 194).

To allow a continuation of the declining rate of this disease, much public awareness and its early detection is crucial to the predisposed population. Individuals, dedicated organizations, and health care professionals can help impose continuous education, awareness about lifestyle practices, and routine check-up, as part of the essential steps needed by these predisposed individuals in containing this life-threatening disease.

The advertisement of a pink ribbon being displayed by some individuals, companies, and televised especially in the month of October each year has been a universal symbol of raising awareness to the society about the existence of this disease and how people can seek treatment option. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

The purpose of this handout is to promote health literacy by designing an educational material that attracts and educate the society about breast cancer disease, thus, identifying, promoting and creating an awareness about the risk factors for breast cancer, prevention of breast cancer, signs and symptoms of breast cancer, screening and treatment options open to positively improve or contain this problem for the women of age predisposed to this disease in our society. The article by Odle (2016, pp 535M) states that research has shown that patients typically do not receive balanced information about benefits and harms of screening, nor are they asked to participate in the decision to be screened.

Setting out awareness to combat breast cancer should be aggressive and empowering to these susceptible individuals subjected to take control of their health due to the shattering nature of this disease that potentially seizes life without remorse. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout
Risk Factors and Prevention of Breast Cancer

There are certain risk factors associated with the cause of breast cancer. There can be divided into two categories, which includes the Genetic Factors also known as risk factors that cannot be changed, and the Environmental and Lifestyle Risk Factors, also known as avoidable risk factors (national breast cancer foundation).

http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-risk-factors

Genetic Factors (Risk factors that cannot be changed):

⦁ Age: Two out of three women with invasive cancer are diagnosed after age 55

⦁ Race: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in Caucasian women than women of other races. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

Family History and Genetic Factors: If your mother, sister, father or child has been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, you have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the future.

⦁ Personal Health History: If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the other breast in the future

⦁ Menstrual and Reproductive History: Early menstruation (before age 12), late ⦁ menopause (after 55), having your first child at an older age, or never having given birth can also increase your risk for breast cancer.

Environmental and Lifestyle Risk Factors (Avoidable risk factors): NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

⦁ Lack of Physical Activity: A sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity can increase your risk for breast cancer.

⦁ Poor Diet: A ⦁ diet high in saturated fat and lack of fruits and vegetables can increase your risk for breast cancer.

⦁ Being Overweight or Obese: Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for breast cancer. Your risk is increased if you have already gone through menopause.

⦁ Drinking Alcohol: Frequent consumption of alcohol can increase your risk for breast cancer. The more alcohol you consume, the greater the risk.

⦁ Radiation to the Chest: Having radiation therapy to the chest before the age of 30 can increase your risk for breast cancer.

⦁ Combined ⦁ Hormone ⦁ Replacement Therapy (HRT): Taking combined hormone replacement therapy, as prescribed for menopause, can increase your risk of breast cancer and increases the risk that cancer will be detected at a more advanced stage.

Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Knowing how your breasts normally look and feel is an important part of breast health. According to the American Cancer Society, the most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass. A painless, hard mass that has irregular edges is more likely to be cancer, but breast cancers can be tender, soft, or rounded. They can even be painful. For this reason, it is important to have any new breast mass or lump or breast change checked by a health care provider experienced in diagnosing breast diseases. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

Other possible symptoms of breast cancer include:

⦁ Swelling of all or part of a breast (even if no distinct lump is felt)

⦁ Skin irritation or dimpling

⦁ Breast or nipple pain

⦁ Nipple retraction (turning inward)

⦁ Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin

⦁ Nipple discharge (other than breast milk)

Screening for Breast Cancer

Clinical Breast Exam (CBE): A CBE is a self-exam where one feels the breast for any abnormalities in the form of lumps or small nodules. This may be done at home at the patient’s convenience. But it is important to learn how it is done properly from your provider before proceeding.

Mammogram: A mammogram is an x-ray that allows a qualified specialist to examine the breast tissue for any suspicious areas. In a diagnostic mammogram, more x-rays are taken, providing views of the breast from multiple vantage points. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

Ultrasound: A breast ultrasound is a scan that uses penetrating sound waves that do not affect or damage the tissue and cannot be heard by humans. Ultrasound takes detailed pictures of the breast tissue called sonograms.

MRI: During a breast MRI, a magnet connected to a computer transmits magnetic energy and radio waves (not radiation) through the breast tissue. It scans the tissue, making detailed pictures of areas within the breast.

Biopsy: A breast biopsy is a test that removes tissue or sometimes fluid from the suspicious area. The removed cells are examined under a microscope and further tested to check for the presence of breast cancer.

Lab Tests: If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, your doctor may order additional lab tests to assist with prognosis.

There is a better prognosis if breast cancer is detected in the earlier stage. Therefore, it is imperative for routine screening to be performed by all women starting at the age of 40 annually or every two years. Women with a higher risk of this disease might be recommended by the physician earlier and more frequent mammograms. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

Treatment Options and Resources for Breast Cancer

Hormone Therapy: This is done by administering hormonal medications which work by either lowering the amount of the hormone estrogen in the body or by blocking the action of estrogen on breast cancer cells.

Radiation Therapy: This is a highly targeted and highly effective way to destroy cancer cells in the breast that may stick around after surgery. Your radiation treatments will be overseen by a radiation oncologist, a cancer doctor who specializes in radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy treatment uses medicine to weaken and destroy cancer cells in the body, including cells at the original cancer site and any cancer cells that may have spread to another part of the body.

Lumpectomy: This is surgery in which only the cancerous tumor and some surrounding tissue are removed.

Mastectomy: This is the surgical removal of breast tissue. This could either be done as a preventative measure in high-risk patients or to rebuild breast tissue that has been attacked by the cancer cells. NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout

NURS 6051 Health Information Patient Handout References

National Breast Cancer Foundation, Retrieved from http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast- cancer-diagnosis
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2016). http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/pdf/breastcancerfactsheet.pdf
Reeder-Hayes, K. E., Wheeler, S. B., & Mayer, D. K. (2015). Health Disparities Across the Breast Cancer Continuum. Seminars In Oncology Nursing, 31(2), 170-177. doi:10.1016/j.soncn.2015.02.005
Berterö, C., & Wilmoth, M. (2007). Breast cancer diagnosis and its treatment affecting the self: a meta-synthesis. Cancer Nursing, 30(3), 194-204.
Odle, T. G. (2016). Breast Cancer Screening Benefits: Research and Controversies. Radiologic Technology, 87(5), 529M-548M American Cancer Society. (2016). http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breastcancer
National Cancer Institute (2016). http://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/hp