Heart disease is the number-one cause of death in the United States. Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) helped to develop the Time to Talk CARDIO (Creating A Real Dialogue In the Office) partnership to help patients and health care professionals make the most of their conversations about heart health. CRI is a member of the partnership because of our commitment to helping to improve health literacy about prevention of chronic disease. Other Time to Talk CARDIO founding partners include the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Foundation, Merck, and RIASWorks. The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is the newest member of the Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board while the growing list of network members include Sister to Sister: The Women’s Heart Health Foundation, Men’s Health Network, and Mended Hearts.
Time to Talk CARDIO was designed for patients and health care professionals to address key issues related to prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. Research shows that skilled communication may help health care professionals have greater satisfaction; and studies have found that better patient recall of instructions, satisfaction with care, adherence to medical recommendations and appointment keeping can be related to use of improved communication skills.
A key component of the Time to Talk CARDIO program is a customized educational tool that features more than 550 videos of patients and health care professionals demonstrating key communication skills that are related to good heart health. CRI and Time to Talk CARDIO are committed to increasing health literacy through innovative, evidence-based best practices. CRI President Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006), serves as chair of the Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board. CRI Executive Director Jennifer Cabe, M.A., and CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D. serve on the Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board.
Background
Time to Talk CARDIO was first presented to health care professionals on June 20, 2009, at the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP) annual meeting in Atlantic City. At the NJAFP Annual Meeting, CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., and Denis Chagnon, M.D., FAAFP, a family physician and a trustee of the AAFP Foundation, delivered presentations and answered questions for family physicians about Time to Talk CARDIO and how it can help to advance health literacy about heart health.
On November 7, 2009, Dr. Pleasant joined members of the Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board and others who are piloting Time to Talk CARDIO when he presented at the Conference on Practice Improvement: Constructing the Medical Home. The conference was held in Kansas City, MO, and was sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Andrew’s presentation focused on the in-clinic research CRI completed in partnership with Oregon Health and Science University Richmond Clinic in Portland, OR, and the evidence base for the Time to Talk CARDIO website and tools.
An Award-Winning Program
The non-profit Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) recognized Time to Talk CARDIO with their Health Literacy Award for Innovative Programs. The award announcement was made in May 2010 at the Ninth Annual IHA Health Literacy Conference, “Health Literacy in the Real World: Programs & Solutions That Work,” in Irvine, CA.
CRI Executive Director Jennifer Cabe, M.A., said “Time to Talk CARDIO is another example of the innovative, evidence-based work to reduce the burden of chronic disease that Canyon Ranch Institute was founded to develop and help make available to all people. Along with our outstanding partners, we are extremely pleased to receive this recognition from IHA, and we hope everyone takes advantage of the free online resources at www.timetotalkcardio.com to improve communication between patients and their health care professionals.”
What’s Happening Today
Time to Talk CARDIO is continuously expanding its reach, and using social media is just one way that is occurring. For example, the Time to Talk CARDIO Twitter feed is updated on a daily basis with statistics about heart health and information on program milestones and events, as well as comments related to celebrations and holidays. To further encourage use of the program’s resources, “tweets” also include links to several YouTube videos about Tie to Talk CARDIO and to Time to Talk CARDIO’s homepage.
The Time to Talk CARDIO YouTube channel is updated monthly and includes highlights from the satellite media tour conducted with Andie MacDowell and CRI President Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, during the consumer launch. Twenty patient and twenty health care professional videos from the Time to Talk CARDIO tool have been uploaded to the channel for visitors to get a glimpse of the Time to Talk CARDIO program. Time to Talk CARDIO also has a Facebook page.
We encourage everyone to visit these social media additions to the Time to Talk CARDIO program.
Evaluation Completed: An Evidence-Based Program
Canyon Ranch Institute has completed an independent evaluation of the Time to Talk CARDIO program. This in-clinic research to assess the impact of the Time to Talk CARDIO skill-building program was conducted with both patients and health professionals in collaboration with the Richmond Clinic of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon.
That research consisted of an interview of individuals before and after they visited the Time to Talk CARDIO website and a visit with a health care professional at the clinic. There was also a control group in the research design. The survey consisted of quantitative and qualitative questions about people’s impressions of the Time to Talk CARDIO program and any changes that occurred as a result of visiting the web site.
Results included finding significant improvements in several dimensions of effective patient-provider communication and satisfaction. The overall change in the relationship between satisfaction with the visit and behaviors related to improved communication was positive but 0.004 above the level required to assert a statistically significant change. The report on that in-clinic research concludes that, “Overall, the Time to Talk CARDIO web-based program has, in some areas, demonstrated positive gain. More promising is how close the results to this research study indicate the program is to creating a truly powerful effect for a very wide variety of people.” A fact sheet summarizes the research.
Time to Talk CARDIO was also piloted in 2009 by AAFP practices in Missouri, North Carolina, and Mississippi. Initial research among 144 patients showed that the Time to Talk CARDIO program significantly increased overall use of communication skills and improved overall satisfaction with medical visits. Likewise, preliminary testing with 24 health care professionals also reported a significant increase in overall communication skill use and statistically significant improvement in overall satisfaction with visit communication.
Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) partnership, Time to Talk CARDIO (Creating A Real Dialogue In the Office), received the prestigious 2010 Health Literacy Award for "Innovative Program" from the non-profit Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA). Time to Talk CARDIO was collaboratively developed by CRI, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Merck & Co., Inc., and RIASWorks. Pictured: Michael Villaire, M.S.L.M., Director of Programs & Operations, IHA (far left); Janet Ohene-Frempong, M.S., principal and founding member, Clear Language Group and Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board member; Debra Roter, Dr. P.H., co-founder of RIASWorks and Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board member; Jennifer Cabe, M.A., executive director of CRI and Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board member; Gloria Mayer, Ed.D., R.N., FAAN, President/CEO, IHA; and Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., CRI health literacy and research director and Time to Talk CARDIO Advisory Board member. Irvine, CA, May 6, 2010, © Institute for Healthcare Advancement, photographer Jane Hammond.
CRI President Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006), and chair of the Time to Talk CARDIO advisory board, and heart health advocate and actress Andie MacDowell team to launch Time to Talk CARDIO during Heart Health Month.
Partnership Resources:
- Click here to view the Summer 2010 Time to Talk CARDIO newsletter.
- Click here to read "The Smarter Way to Talk to Your Doc," an article published in Ladies' Home Journal that shares tips from CRI President Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS and actress and heart health advocate Andie MacDowell about how to get the most out of your doctor's visit.
- Click here to view the Spring 2010 Time to Talk CARDIO newsletter.
- Click here to read the press release announcing the launch of Time to Talk CARDIO.
- Click here to view Time to Talk CARDIO Spokesperson Andie MacDowell speaking with Dr. Manny Alvarez on Fox News' HealthTalk.
- Click here to read “Talkin’ CARDIO with Your Patients: Nine Questions for a Former U.S. Surgeon General,” an interview with CRI President Dr. Richard H. Carmona published in PA Professional.
- Click here to view the Winter 2009 Time to Talk CARDIO newsletter.
- Click here to read about the National Time to Talk CARDIO Network event in Washington, D.C.
- Click here to view a video with CRI President Dr. Richard Carmona introducing the Time to Talk CARDIO program at the Network event.
- Click here to read the about the launch of Time to Talk CARDIO in Ohio.
- Click here to read the about the launch of Time to Talk CARDIO in Mississippi at the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians Annual Scientific Assembly.
- Click here to visit the Time to Talk CARDIO website.
