Department of Health Promotion Sciences, University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Tuscon, USA.
Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
J Transl Med. 2019 Mar 15;17(1):85. doi: 10.1186/s12967-019-1826-2.
The general public is currently bombarded with direct-to-consumer advertising, real time "medical" guidance through the internet, access to digital devices that capture health information, and science-based adds that promote foods, cosmetics, and dietary supplements. Unfortunately, much of this information relies on terminology and concepts not well-understood by consumers, particularly those with lower levels of health and genomic literacy. Such constraints align with the limitations of the American public to obtain and process the basic medical information needed to make appropriate healthcare decisions. Low levels of health and genomic literacy render the American public ill-equipped to make informed decisions, use and interpret genomic information, or appreciate the benefits afforded by genomics-based technologies. We propose that coordinated expansion of the roles of community health workers and patient navigators within the precision medicine space can be effectively used to disseminate the knowledge required for the public to benefit from precision medicine advances in healthcare. A well-organized and trained community health worker and patient navigator workforce will provide a voice for the disadvantaged, especially among recent immigrants likely to be experiencing social isolation, language barriers, and economic deprivation. Armed with this knowledge, community health workers and patient navigators can advance the precision medicine agenda and empower disadvantaged communities to take advantage of major advances in the precision medicine era.
公众当前正受到来自直接面向消费者的广告、互联网上实时的“医疗”指导、可获取健康信息的数字设备以及基于科学的食品、化妆品和膳食补充剂广告的狂轰滥炸。不幸的是，这些信息中的许多内容都依赖于术语和概念，而消费者，尤其是健康素养和基因组素养较低的消费者，往往并不理解这些术语和概念。这些限制与美国公众获取和处理做出适当医疗保健决策所需的基本医疗信息的能力有限相一致。健康素养和基因组素养较低使得美国公众无法做出明智的决策，无法使用和解释基因组信息，也无法理解基于基因组学的技术所带来的好处。我们提出，在精准医疗领域协调扩展社区卫生工作者和患者导航员的角色，可以有效地传播使公众能够从医疗保健的精准医学进步中受益所需的知识。一个组织良好且训练有素的社区卫生工作者和患者导航员队伍将为弱势群体，尤其是那些可能正在经历社会孤立、语言障碍和经济贫困的新移民提供支持。有了这些知识，社区卫生工作者和患者导航员就可以推进精准医疗议程，使弱势社区能够利用精准医学时代的重大进步。
