Cindy

International silver CINDY award winner

Title of Entry: Hysterectomy: The Decision is Yours

Written and Produced by:
Hall & Foushee Communications, Inc
Minneapolis, MN

CINDY, an acronym for "Cinema in Industry," began in 1959 as an industrial film competition. It was originally created by the Industry Film Producers Association (IFPA), an American professional organization. Later, this group became the
Informational Film Producers of America and, in 1984, the Association of Visual Communicators (AVC). Today the twice-a-year CINDY Awards are proudly presented by the International Association of Audio Visual Communicators (IAAVC), a non-profit group representing theatrical, broadcast, non-broadcast, and interactive media professionals throughout the world.

As the market for industrial films has evolved into video and other media formats over the years, CINDY has changed dramatically. Interactive media was added in 1985, making CINDY the first interactive media competition in the world. Today CINDY cntinues to honor the informational media producer but has expanded to embrace all production professionals.

The International Cinema in Industry (CINDY) award has developed into the premier international audio-visual competition for both linear and interactive media. Out of nearly 3400 entries in the Spring 2000 Edition of the 42^nd annual cinema in industry competitions, our award winning entry placed in the top 15% of all programming entered. This year, CINDY entries included web sites, CD-Roms, audio tapes and video tapes came from 28 countries world wide. A host of formats are represented in the competition, including film, video, audio, multi-image, and interactive multimedia. Preliminary panels view all entered productions and advance the top scoring entries to Blue Ribbon panels which decide final awards. Productions advancing to Blue Ribbon panels will receive an award.

The purpose of this 15-minute video, entitled Hysterectomy: the Decision is Yours, is to educate women in effective ways of communicating with their health care providers about hysterectomy, and to teach decision making skills that women can use in making decisions about these surgeries. The target audience is women who have been told that they may need a hysterectomy or who have conditions for which hysterectomy is a treatment option.

Participating Institutions:
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Field Center and Coordinating Center
University of New Mexico, Field Center
University of South Carolina, Field Center
University of Texas at Houston, Field Center

Executive Producers:
Cora E. Lewis, M.D., M.S.P.H., University of Alabama at Birmingham
Carla Herman, M.D., University of New Mexico
Robert McKeown, Ph.D., University of South Carolina
Janet Y. Groff, M.D., Ph.D., University of Texas - Houston
The ENDOW Investigative Team
Coordinating Producers:
Donna Richter, EdD, University of South Carolina
Carol E. Cornell, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Janet Y. Groff, MD, PhD, University of Texas - Houston
Patricia Dolan-Mullen, DrPH, University of Texas - Houston
Clo Mingo, PhD, University of New Mexico
Ina Bawaya, MFA, University of New Mexico
Video Coordination Team
Adriana Linares, M.D., MPH, University of Texas - Houston
Rachel Saunders, University of South Carolina
Special thanks to all those individuals who were interviewed.

Sponsored by: The ENDOW (Ethnicity, Needs, Decisions of Women) Project is a collaborative effort supported by the Women's Health Initiative, National Institutes of Health, and the Prevention Research Centers Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.