Can computer programs persuade you to change? Can technology help people combat addiction?
Yes, says Mary Alice Gillispie, MD, a family physician researcher in Fargo, ND. She's designed computer programs that have helped people stop smoking.
Her trick: Her software focuses on stages of behavior change rather than the goal of quitting smoking. Young adults in her 1994-95 study worked through three 15-minute computer sessions over two months, and they set their own pace for change.
"Everybody lives in their own skin," Dr. Gillispie says. "If somebody's not ready to quit smoking and they have barriers we don't know about, we're not going to help by focusing only on quitting. However, patients can use computer programs to figure out where they are and where they're ready to make some change."
Sixty-five smokers who were undergraduate psychology students at North Dakota State University, Fargo, participated in the collaborative study. Their responses to computer questions triggered tailored feedback.
By seven months after the computer sessions, about 30 percent of the subjects had stopped smoking. Dr. Gillispie credits computer use with the success of the smoking cessation study. "Something about quick, personalized feedback is helpful. You put in your information and get suggestions back right away from the computer."
To make patient education comprehensive, physicians are going to have to call on the computer, says Dr. Gillispie. "We forget things, we tend to be rushed, and it is difficult to cover all the important health issues with each patient. But the computer never tires out. It turns patients into resources for carrying out the work of health care."
Dr. Gillispie and her colleagues have also developed Pap test, STD, and health assessment computer programs and are conducting a study on binge drinking among college students.
"Computers and Family Practice" contents
FP Report, July 1996 headlines
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