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The Nurses' Health Study recently collaborated with colleagues at Harvard University to launch a new website, "Your Disease Risk," that builds on research from the Nurses' Health Study. The interactive site offers visitors personalized tips for lowering their risk of five major diseases: cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
To learn more, visit, www.YourDiseaseRisk.harvard.edu.
To read more about the Nurses' Health Study online, visit www.channing.harvard.edu/nhs.
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“This was the first time this has ever been reported so it’s very exciting,” Hankinson says. “It was a fairly robust finding, but once again we hope to delve further to confirm our initial data.”
Hankinson hopes that even nurses who are not involved in the study will use the data to help improve their own health and use the information as a patient education tool.
Sharing data with peers and patients
Mimi Haberfelde, RN, MS, AOCN, education coordinator of the VA Nursing Outcomes Database project at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, has participated in the Nurses’ Health Study II since its inception in 1989.
She notes that being a participant in the study has helped her to keep abreast of cutting-edge women’s health information.
“I’ve definitely learned critical information such as the impact of hormones in postmenopausal women and how they impact the incidence of stroke, blood clots, heart disease, and cancer,” she says. “I also feel more knowledgeable about prevention strategies for osteoporosis.”
Haberfelde appreciates the study’s annual newsletters that discuss recent findings in a user-friendly way.
“The last newsletter talked about osteoporosis prevention and the importance of vitamins D and K,” she says. “This is information that can be used by nurses and shared with patients. The study makes it easy for nurses to share the latest research findings, and also lists sources if they want additional information.”
For Rebecca Steinmann, RN, MS, CEN, CCRN, CCNS, clinical educator for the emergency department at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, participating in the study has proved to reinforce many of her own health beliefs.
“I’m at the same weight I was 25 years ago,” she says. “I’ve always tried to eat healthily and exercise, and when I read the study data, I feel encouraged that my lifestyle will have a positive impact on my future health.”
Steinmann also commends the study for giving both nurses and patients a broader picture of issues affecting women’s health.
“Many of the earlier health studies didn’t involve women,” Steinmann says. “This study has tracked many of the same nurses from their early 20s into middle age, giving all women a body of knowledge on what they can do to stay healthy.”
To comment on this story, send e-mail to editorsc@nurseweek.com.
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