[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61763-61765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-25170]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; NCCAM Office of 
Communications and Public Liaison Communications Program Planning and 
Evaluation Research

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of Section 3507(a)(1)(D) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the National Center for Complementary and 
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to 
review and approve the information collection

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listed below. This proposed information collection was previously 
published in the Federal Register on August 25, 2010 (Vol. 75, No. 164, 
p. 52349) and allowed 60 days for public comment. There was one public 
comment received during this time. The purpose of this notice is to 
allow an additional 30 days for public comment. The National Institutes 
of Health may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection that has been 
extended, revised, or implemented on or after October 1, 1995, unless 
it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Proposed Collection: Title: NCCAM Office of Communications and 
Public Liaison Communications Program Planning and Evaluation Research. 
Type of Information Collection Request: Extension.
    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 
formative audience research, OCPL tests audience responses to NCCAM's 
fact sheets, Web content, and other materials and messages.
    Clearance is also requested to continue 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 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; non-profit 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: 2,500; Estimated Number of Responses per 
Respondent: 1; Average Burden Hours per Response: 0.58; and Estimated 
Total Burden Hours Requested: 2,109 for the 3-year clearance period 
(approximately 703 hours annually). The annualized cost to respondents 
is estimated at $18,123. There are no Capital Costs, Operating Costs, 
or Maintenance Costs to report.

                                          Table 1--Annual Burden Hours
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                                                                     Estimated                       Estimated
                                                     Estimated       number of    Average burden   total annual
               Type of respondents                   number of     responses per     hours per     burden hours
                                                    respondents     respondent       response        requested
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In-depth interviews with general public.........              30               1             .75              23
Focus groups....................................              20               1             1.5              30
Omnibus surveys.................................           1,900               1            0.25             475
Intercept interviews with public and healthcare              300               1            0.25              75
 professionals..................................
In-depth interviews with health professionals...              50               1             .50              25
Self-administered questionnaires with health                 200               1             .25              50
 professionals..................................
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    TOTAL.......................................           2,500  ..............  ..............             678
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    Request for Comments: Written comments and/or suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies are invited on one or more of 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 assumptions 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.
    Direct Comments to OMB: Written comments and/or suggestions 
regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding 
the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be 
directed to the Attention: NIH Desk Officer, Office of Management and 
Budget, at [email protected] or by fax to 202-395-6974. 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,

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Bethesda, MD 20892, or fax your request to 301-402-4741, or e-mail 
[email protected]. 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: September 29, 2010.
Christy Thomsen,
Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison, National Center 
for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of 
Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-25170 Filed 10-5-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P