University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are looking for rural Wisconsin women newly diagnosed with breast cancer for a study. The study will evaluate how successfully computers and the internet can be used to help women face this life-threatening disease.

“Women in rural areas are often far from cancer treatment centers and feel isolated when they learn they have breast cancer. Many have been left behind in the information age and don”t have access to computers. That”s who we want to participate in our study,” says Suzanne Pingree, who is directing the study.

Pingree, a professor of Life Sciences Communication, is part of the UW-Madison team that developed a program called CHESS. Short for Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System, CHESS uses computers and the internet to provide women a network of support and up-to-date, understandable information about breast cancer.

“CHESS is another tool for patients,” Pingree says. “Our ultimate goal is to provide accurate and supportive cancer information to women with breast cancer.”

Women who are selected for the study need a computer and access to the internet, according to Fiona McTavish, who will coordinate the study. If they can”t afford a computer, the study will supply one free of charge.

“CHESS can be used even by women who have never used a computer,” says McTavish, who has worked on several studies to improve CHESS. “People not in a CHESS study do not have access to the information in the study. The program is confidential and anonymous.”

McTavish hopes to enroll 200 women in the study before May 2003. Women interested in participating in the project should contact the CHESS coordinator at 1-800-361-5481 or 608-513-8938 for more information.

The study involving rural women is a collaboration between the CHESS project and the UW-Madison Cancer Information Service. The National Cancer Institute and the Markle Foundation are funding the study.