memo 0530

TO: Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Through: Reports Clearance Officer, DHHS

Project Clearance Chief, NIH

Project Clearance Liaison, NCCAM

FROM: Alyssa Cotler

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

SUBJECT: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) Communications Program Planning and Evaluation (OMB Control Number 0925-0530, expiration date October 31, 2010)

The staff of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) Office of Communications plans to conduct a formative research survey under OMB Control Number 0925-0530, expiration date October 31, 2010. The survey will assess the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), communications practices regarding CAM use between patients and their health care providers, and customer satisfaction with educational materials.

Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

Previous research has shown that communications practices between patients and health care providers regarding patients’ use of CAM are lacking. In 2006, NCCAM partnered with AARP to survey adults ages 50 and older about their use of CAM and their communications practices with their health care providers. Data from the nationally representative sample of 1,559 respondents, reflected that while more than two-thirds of people 50+ are using some form of CAM, less than one-third are discussing this use with their doctors. To address this gap, NCCAM is developing educational materials and tools. This survey will assess whether those who are not engaging in a dialog with their providers would be receptive to educational tools and messages.

This effort is in accordance with the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Committee Report on S. 3230:

“Communication Between Patients and Caregivers.—The Committee applauds NCCAM for its work to develop better strategies

for promoting communication between doctors and their patients who use CAM, especially adults over 50.”

Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

This formative research survey will assess the prevalence of CAM use among respondents and their communications practices with health care providers regarding CAM use. It will also pre-test two educational tools regarding the importance of discussing CAM use with health care providers, including a 1-page fact sheet and a wallet reference card. Using the respondents’ feedback, NCCAM will revise materials to ensure customer satisfaction and usability.

We will recruit up to 200 respondents ages 50+ at the AARP annual meeting . The survey will be administered as a self-administered questionnaire at the NCCAM exhibit booth. No technology will be used to complete the survey. Completion will be voluntary with no payment and individual responses will be kept confidential. Findings will be used by NCCAM for program planning purposes and published or otherwise shared externally.

Estimate of Burden Hours and Costs

Project	Number of Participants	Number of Responses/ Participant	Average hours per response	Response burden
Self-administered questionnaires	200	1	0.10	20 hours/ $0 cost