HINTS: Moving from Data to Reality
Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET

Seminar Summary

Disseminating evidence-based programs and policies requires that researchers, policy makers, and practitioners take active roles in the process. While their perspectives, systems, and practices vary, their goal remains the same: to reduce the burden of disease and move from "research to reality."

The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) is a data collection program created to monitor changes in the rapidly evolving field of health communication. Survey researchers are using the data to understand how adults 18 years and older use different communication channels, including the Internet, to obtain vital health information for themselves and their loved ones. Public health practitioners are using the data to overcome barriers to health information usage across populations and are obtaining the data they need to create more effective communication strategies.

January’s Research to Reality cyber-seminar will look closely at the HINTS survey and results. Presenters and participants will engage in a discussion of how cancer control practitioners can best harness the information the survey collects and use it to guide and evaluate evidence-based programs at the local level.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the cyber-seminar, participants will be able to:

• Explain how HINTS data can guide the development and evaluation of a local cancer control program.
• Describe how challenges faced at the community level to move evidence-based programs into practice can be addressed through the use of data sets such as HINTS.

Featured Presenters

Lila J. Rutten, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Behavioral Scientist
Health Communications and Informatics Research Branch
National Cancer Institute

Robin Vanderpool, Dr.P.H., C.H.E.S.
Assistant Professor
Deputy Director, Rural Cancer Prevention Center
University of Kentucky College of Public Health