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U-M receives $8M for cancer communications research

--added 1/13/09

Ann Arbor, MI. -- The Center for Health Communications Research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year $8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study cancer communications issues. The grant designates U-M as one of five Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research.

The focus of the Center for Health Communications Research is to develop Web-based tailored messages to promote healthy behaviors. The award represents a renewal of a grant initially funded in 2003. The new funding will allow researchers to expand their scope to include cancer screening and early detection as well as long-term survivorship issues.

Among the projects the new grant will support:

"We need research in this area to better understand how to help individuals prevent disease and become better managers of their health," says Victor J. Strecher, Ph.D., professor of health behavior and health education at the U-M School of Public Health and associate director of cancer prevention and control at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The tailored approach developed by Strecher and his colleagues uses computer programs to deliver messages via print and the Web that address an individual's specific situation or concerns. This could include demographics such as gender, age or race, or behaviors such as how long you have smoked or the reasons you struggle to quit. Tailoring concepts and programs originally studied within the center are now being used by employers and insurance companies across the country.

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Written by Nicole Fawcett

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