CAM Information

A More User-friendly OCCAM Web Site

“I can’t find what I am looking for? I give up.”
“I know the information must be on this site somewhere!”
“This Web site is confusing.”

Have you ever experienced frustration while trying to find information on the OCCAM Web site? If so, you are not alone. However, starting in September, visitors to the OCCAM Web site can expect to see significant changes made, one section at a time, to the way information is arranged. These changes will hopefully help people find the information they are looking for more quickly and easily than in the past.

Recognizing the weaknesses of their online communication, OCCAM’s Communications and Outreach Program (COP) conducted some usability testing of their Web site and then incorporated the feedback they received to first improve the Health Information section of the site. COP intends to revise the entire site over the next year and has begun its work on other sections.

“We understand that patients and their loved ones are looking to us as an authority on CAM information for cancer. Making changes to the Health Information section of our Web site was a priority for us,” said Shea Buckman, M.A., coordinator of COP.

Some of the changes to the Health Information section include:

• Reorganizing existing content into special pages for patients and health care providers
• Pulling all of the information on various CAM therapies into one location and organizing it alphabetically
• Adding new resources from other government agencies and NCI’s grantee organizations
• Replacing large blocks of text with easy-to-scan links

Overall, the OCCAM Web site will have the same basic look but be more user-friendly. In the coming months, look for additional enhancements to other sections of the Web site.

To see the new and improved Health Information section, please visit www.cancer.gov/health_index.html.