scholarly journals A Weekly, Evidence-Based Health Letter for Caregivers (90Second Caregiver): Usability Study

10.2196/14496 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e14496
Author(s):  
Athena Milios ◽  
Patrick McGrath ◽  
Hannah Baillie

Background Informal caregivers are family members or close friends who provide unpaid help to individuals with acute or chronic health conditions so that they can manage daily life tasks. The greatest source of health information is the internet for meeting the needs of caregivers. However, information on the internet may not be scientifically valid, it may be written in language that is difficult to read, and is often in very large doses. 90Second Caregiver is a health letter whose aim is to disseminate knowledge to caregivers in a user-friendly, weekly format, in order to improve their wellbeing. Objective The main objective was to test a sample of 90Second Caregiver health letters in order to assess their usability and to optimize the design and content of the health letters. Methods Usability research themes were assessed using semi-structured phone interviews, incorporating the Think Aloud method with retrospective questioning. Results Usability was assessed in the context of five main themes: understandability and learnability, completeness, relevance, and quality and credibility of the health letter content, as well as design and format. Caregivers generally provided positive feedback regarding the usability of the letters. The usability feedback was used to refine 90Second Caregiver in order to improve the design and content of the series. Based on the results of this study, it may be of maximum benefit to target the series towards individuals who are new to caregiving or part-time caregivers, given that these caregivers of the sample found the letters more useful and relevant and had the most positive usability experiences. Conclusions The findings assisted in the improvement of the 90Second Caregiver template, which will be used to create future health letters and refine the letters that have already been created. The findings have implications for who the 90Second Caregiver series should be targeting (ie, newer or part-time caregivers) in order to be maximally impactful in improving mental health and wellbeing-related outcomes for caregivers, such as self-efficacy and caregiving knowledge. The results of this study may be generalizable to the examination of other electronic health information formats, making them valuable to future researchers testing the usability of health information products. In addition, the methods used in this study are useful for usability hypothesis generation. Lastly, our 90Second delivery approach can generate information useful for a set of similar products (eg, weekly health letters targeted towards other conditions/populations).

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athena Milios ◽  
Patrick McGrath ◽  
Hannah Baillie

BACKGROUND Informal caregivers are family members or close friends who provide unpaid help to individuals with acute or chronic health conditions so that they can manage daily life tasks. The greatest source of health information is the internet for meeting the needs of caregivers. However, information on the internet may not be scientifically valid, it may be written in language that is difficult to read, and is often in very large doses. 90Second Caregiver is a health letter whose aim is to disseminate knowledge to caregivers in a user-friendly, weekly format, in order to improve their wellbeing. OBJECTIVE The main objective was to test a sample of 90Second Caregiver health letters in order to assess their usability and to optimize the design and content of the health letters. METHODS Usability research themes were assessed using semi-structured phone interviews, incorporating the Think Aloud method with retrospective questioning. RESULTS Usability was assessed in the context of five main themes: understandability and learnability, completeness, relevance, and quality and credibility of the health letter content, as well as design and format. Caregivers generally provided positive feedback regarding the usability of the letters. The usability feedback was used to refine 90Second Caregiver in order to improve the design and content of the series. Based on the results of this study, it may be of maximum benefit to target the series towards individuals who are new to caregiving or part-time caregivers, given that these caregivers of the sample found the letters more useful and relevant and had the most positive usability experiences. CONCLUSIONS The findings assisted in the improvement of the 90Second Caregiver template, which will be used to create future health letters and refine the letters that have already been created. The findings have implications for who the 90Second Caregiver series should be targeting (ie, newer or part-time caregivers) in order to be maximally impactful in improving mental health and wellbeing-related outcomes for caregivers, such as self-efficacy and caregiving knowledge. The results of this study may be generalizable to the examination of other electronic health information formats, making them valuable to future researchers testing the usability of health information products. In addition, the methods used in this study are useful for usability hypothesis generation. Lastly, our 90Second delivery approach can generate information useful for a set of similar products (eg, weekly health letters targeted towards other conditions/populations).


Author(s):  
Denis Protti

Healthcare is one of the world’s most information-intensive industries. Every day, volumes of data are produced which, properly used, can improve clinical practice and outcomes, guide planning and resource allocation, and enhance accountability. Electronic health information is fundamental to better healthcare. There will be no significant increase in healthcare quality and efficiency without high quality, user-friendly health information compiled and delivered electronically. The growing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the healthcare sector has introduced numerous opportunities and benefits to patients, providers and governments alike. Patients are being provided with tools to help them manage and monitor their healthcare, providers are able to seamlessly access up-to-date patient information, and governments are showing transparency to the public by reporting health data and information on their websites. There is mounting evidence that national, regional, and organizational e-health strategies are being developed and implemented worldwide. This chapter provides an overview of three different national e-health strategies, and identifies the lessons learned from the e-health strategies of Canada, England and Denmark.


2020 ◽  
pp. sextrans-2020-054619
Author(s):  
Pin Ming Lee ◽  
Rosalind Foster ◽  
Anna McNulty ◽  
Ruthy McIver ◽  
Prital Patel

ObjectivesBetween 2013 and 2014, a third of Australian adults reported using the internet to investigate medical symptoms before consulting a medical practitioner. However, there is limited evidence regarding internet health information seeking behaviour (HISB) in sexual health. This study aims to determine the frequency, predictors and accuracy of internet HISB for sexual health self-diagnosis.MethodsA cross-sectional paper-based survey, available in English, Chinese and Thai, was conducted during April to August 2019 at the Sydney Sexual Health Centre (SSHC). Symptomatic patients were recruited to answer an 18-item survey on their HISB, self-assessed diagnosis, anxiety and health literacy. Survey responses were correlated with SSHC electronic medical record data including participant demographics and clinician diagnosis. Data analyses were performed using Stata V.14.ResultsThe majority of participants searched the internet (355; 79.1%) before attending clinic, and of these only 16.9% made a correct self-diagnosis. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that relative to Australian-born participants, people born in Asia were twice as likely to undertake internet HISB (adjusted OR (AOR) 2.41, 95% CI 1.25 to 4.64, p<0.01), and those born in Latin America were more likely to self-diagnose correctly (AOR 3.35, 95% CI 1.20 to 9.37, p<0.01). On average, participants who searched the internet scored higher relative to those who did not search, on measures of feeling generally tense (2.26, 95% CI 2.16 to 2.7 and 1.86, 95% CI 1.67 to 2.05, p<0.001), upset (1.96, 95% CI 1.85 to 2.08 and 1.53, 95% CI 1.35 to 1.72, p<0.001) and worried (2.55, 95% CI 2.44 to 2.65, and 2.16, 95% CI 1.95 to 2.38, p=0.001).ConclusionsThis study has filled important gaps in the literature and highlighted the high prevalence of adults engaging in HISB for sexual health information. Of concern are the increased levels of anxiety and low accuracy of self-diagnoses associated with HISB. Strategies to direct patients to reputable and user-friendly health websites that mitigate anxiety and misinterpretation of online health information should be explored.


2011 ◽  
pp. 402-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Protti

Healthcare is one of the world’s most information-intensive industries. Every day, volumes of data are produced which, properly used, can improve clinical practice and outcomes, guide planning and resource allocation, and enhance accountability. Electronic health information is fundamental to better healthcare. There will be no significant increase in healthcare quality and efficiency without high quality, user-friendly health information compiled and delivered electronically. The growing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the healthcare sector has introduced numerous opportunities and benefits to patients, providers and governments alike. Patients are being provided with tools to help them manage and monitor their healthcare, providers are able to seamlessly access up-to-date patient information, and governments are showing transparency to the public by reporting health data and information on their websites. There is mounting evidence that national, regional, and organizational e-health strategies are being developed and implemented worldwide. This chapter provides an overview of three different national e-health strategies, and identifies the lessons learned from the e-health strategies of Canada, England and Denmark.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Silke Heuse ◽  
Cathrin Dietze ◽  
Daniel Fodor ◽  
Edgar Voltmer

Background: Future health-care professionals face stress both during education and in later professional life. Next to educational trainings, many students are forced to assume part-time employment. Objective: Applying the Job Demands-Resources Model to the educational context, we investigate which role part-time employment plays next to health-care professional students’ education-specific demands and resources in the prediction of perceived stress. Method: In this cross-sectional study, data from N = 161 health-care students were analysed, testing moderation models. Results: Education-specific demands were associated with higher and education-specific resources with lower amounts of perceived stress. Part-time employment functioned as moderator, i.e. demands were less associated with stress experiences in students who were employed part-time. Conclusion: Identifying part-time employment as a resource rather than a demand illustrates the need to understand students’ individual influences on stress. Both educators and students will benefit from reflecting these resources to support students’ stress management.


Author(s):  
Shankar Chaudhary

Despite being in nascent stage m-commerce is gaining momentum in India. The explosive growth of smart-phone users has made India much loved business destination for whole world. Indian internet user is becoming the second largest in the world next to China surpassing US, which throws open plenty of e-commerce opportunities, not only for Indian players, offshore players as well. Mobile commerce is likely to overtake e-commerce in the next few years, spurred by the continued uptrend in online shopping and increasing use of mobile apps.The optimism comes from the fact that people accessing the Internet through their mobiles had jumped 33 per cent in 2014 to 173 million and is expected to grow 21 per cent year-on-year till 2019 to touch 457 million. e-Commerce brands are eyeing on the mobile app segment by developing user-friendly and secure mobile apps offering a risk-free and easy shopping experience to its users. Budget 4G smart phones coupled with affordable plans, can very well drive 4G growth in India.


Author(s):  
Shelagh K. Genuis

This qualitative paper explores how health information mediated by the internet and media is used and made valuable within the life of consumers managing non-crisis health challenges, and how informal information seeking and gathering influences self-positioning within patient-clinician relationships. Findings have implications for health information literacy and collaborative, patient-centred care.Cette étude qualitative explore comment l’information sur la santé relayée par Internet et les médias est utilisée et rendue utile dans le contexte de consommateurs gérant des problèmes médicaux non urgents, et comment la recherche et la collecte d’information informelles influencent l’auto-positionnement dans la relation patient clinicien. Les résultats ont des applications dans la maîtrise de l’information médicale et les soins collaboratifs centrés sur le patient.


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