Penny Brohn Cancer Care is the UK's leading holistic cancer charity that has pioneered the Bristol Approach to cancer care, for people with cancer and those close to them. This Approach works hand-in-hand with medical treatment, providing a unique combination of physical, emotional and spiritual support using complementary therapies and self-help techniques, including practical advice on nutrition.
What did we do for Penny Brohn Cancer Care?
The Penny Brohn Cancer Care senior management team contacted us in November 2004 because they needed help improving the way that they produce and disseminate information on complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). Over the next 18 months we worked with them on four fronts:
- User needs analysis
This structured telephone interview aims to find out the information needs and information seeking behaviour of Penny Brohn Cancer Care staff and users (complementary therapists, non-clinical staff and patients) and make recommendations to improve their existing information systems. - Information strategy
This report aims to develop a practical and sustainable strategy to deliver information to meet the needs of Penny Brohn Cancer Care staff and users. In this case it was to be used as the main inspiration for the setting up of a new Information and Research Department within the organisation. - Content production methodology
This practical document provides a detailed methodology for synthesizing and summarising CAM research into evidence-based information sheets that can be used by staff and users. - Evidence-based health care workshop
Having all of the necessary strategies and methodologies in place, it is vital that all Penny Brohn Cancer Care staff and users 'buy-in' to the ethos promoted by the Information and Research Department – that CAM information should be based on the best available evidence and presented in an accessible and usable format.
The voluntary sector is an increasingly competitive market place and none more so than amongst cancer charities. It has long been recognised that one way to gain advantage over your competitors is to implement evidence-based practices in an organisation. We know that EBH improves the quality of patient care and that there is a huge demand for usable and reliable health information.
