E7-11971. Proposed Collection; Comment Request; NCCAM Office of Communications and Public Liaison Communications Program Planning and Evaluation Research

Summary: In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects to be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval.

Proposed Collection

Title: NCCAM Office of Communications and Public Liaison Communications Program Planning and Evaluation Research.

Type of Information Collection Request: Continuation.

Need and Use of Information Collection: To carry out NCCAM's legislative mandate to educate and disseminate information about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to a wide variety of audiences and organizations, the NCCAM Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) requests clearance to carry out (1) formative and (2) evaluative research of a variety of print and online materials, outreach activities, and messages to maximize their impact and usefulness.

OCPL wishes to continue to carry out formative research to further understand the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of its core constituent groups: Members of the general public, researchers, and providers of both conventional and CAM health care. In addition, it seeks to test newly formulated messages and identify barriers and impediments to the effective communication of those messages. With this audience research, OCPL will carry out pretesting of audience responses to NCCAM's fact sheets, Web content, and other materials and messages.

Clearance is also requested to continue to carry out evaluative research on existing materials and messages, as part of OCPL's ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive program of testing and evaluation of all of its communications strategies. This evaluative research will include pilot testing of recently developed messages and information products such as consumer fact sheets and brochures. It will also address the need to evaluate the processes by which new materials and messages were developed, the effectiveness of an outreach activity or the extent to which behaviors were changed by the message, and the impact of a message on health knowledge and behaviors.

The tools to collect this information have been selected to minimize burden on NCCAM's audiences, produce or refine messages that have the greatest potential to influence target audience attitudes and behavior in a positive manner, and to use Government resources efficiently. They may include individual in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, intercept interviews, self-administered questionnaires, gatekeeper reviews, and omnibus surveys.

The data will enhance OCPL's understanding of the unique information needs and distinct health-information-seeking behaviors of its core constituencies, and the segments within these constituencies with special information needs (for example, among the general public these segments include cancer patients, the chronically ill, minority and ethnic populations, the elderly, users of dietary supplements, and patients integrating complementary therapies with conventional medical treatments).

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Affected Public: Individuals and households; nonprofit institutions; Federal Government; State, Local, or Tribal Government.

Type of Respondents: Adult patients; members of the public; health care professionals; organizational representatives.

The annual reporting burden is as follows.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,440; Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1; Average Burden Hours per Response: 0.29; and Estimated Total Burden Hours Requested: 2,124 for the 3-year clearance period (approximately 708 hours annually). The annualized cost to respondents is estimated at $19,624. There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, or Maintenance Costs to report.

Request for Comments: Written comments and/or suggestions from the public and affected agencies are invited on the following points: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the function of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumption used; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

For Further Information Contact: To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and instruments, contact Christy Thomsen, Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, NCCAM, 31 Center Drive, Room 2B11, Bethesda, MD 20892, or fax your request to 301-402-4741, or e-mail [e-mail]. Ms. Thomsen can be contacted by telephone at 301-451-8876.

Comments Due Date: Comments regarding this information collection are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of the date of this publication.

Dated: June 13, 2007.

Christy Thomsen,

Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health.