MEDLARS and health information policy.

Mode of access: Internet.

The provision of health information to stroke patients within an acute hospital setting: What actually happens and how do patients feel about it?

This preliminary study describes how health information is provided to stroke patients in an acute hospital and describes their perceptions of health information provision. A further aim was to determine if patients with aphasia were disadvantaged in their receipt of information. Seven stroke patients were observed in hospital for an average of 102 minutes each and then interviewed using a semi-structured interview. When communication occurred, only 17.5% of communication time was spent providing information. Patients with aphasia received information for less time and on fewer topics. Implications regarding approaches to information provision for patients with and without aphasia are discussed.

eHealth as a challenge to `expert' power: a focus group study of internet use for health information and management

Objective To investigate current use of the internet and eHealth amongst adults. Design Focus groups were conducted to explore participants' attitudes to and reasons for health internet use. Main outcome measures The focus group data were analysed and interpreted using thematic analysis. Results Three superordinate themes exploring eHealth behaviours were identified: decline in expert authority, pervasiveness of health information on the internet and empowerment. Results showed participants enjoyed the immediate benefits of eHealth information and felt empowered by increased knowledge, but they would be reluctant to lose face-to-face consultations with their GP. Conclusions Our findings illustrate changes in patient identity and a decline in expert authority with ramifications for the practitioner–patient relationship and subsequent implications for health management more generally.

Community accessibility of health information and the consequent impact for translation into community languages

This paper reports on a research project that investigated the accessibility of health information and the consequent impact for translation into community languages. This is a critical aspect of the mediation of intercultural and interlingual communication in the domain of public health information and yet very little research has been undertaken to address such issues. The project was carried out in collaboration with the New South Wales Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS), which provides advice and services to state-based health professionals aiming to communicate with non-English speaking communities. The research employed a mixed-method and action research based approach involving two phases. The primary focus of this paper is to discuss major quantitative findings from the first pilot phase, which indicated that there is much room to improve the way in which health information is written in English for effective community-wide communication within a multilingual society.

Young students' use of the internet for mental health information and support

It is recognized that young people experience difficulties in accessing mainstream mental health services particularly because of the stigma that remains associated with mental health problems. One potential solution is to use the many websites available offering information and support for mental health problems, such support and information could be offered by Psychiatric Nurses. However, young peoples' usage and views on using the Internet for this purpose has yet to be examined. This quantitative descriptive study aimed to elicit the views of 922 University students, aged between 18 and 24 years, on using the Internet for mental health information and support. Data were collected using a 30-item self-designed questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that 72.4% of participants used the Internet several times a day. In addition, 30.8% had previously searched for mental health information online, predominantly on depression. While it was found that 68% of participants indicated that they would use the Internet for mental health support if they needed to, 79.4% would still prefer face to face support. It is concluded that young people are willing to use the Internet for mental health information and that it represents a viable source of support for this age group.

Sense-making in theory and practice: a metatheoretical foundation and application for health information seeking

This thesis attempts to provide deeper historical and theoretical grounding for sense-making, thereby illustrating its applicability to practical information seeking research. In Chapter One I trace the philosophical origins of Brenda Dervin’s theory known as “sense making,” reaching beyond current scholarship that locates the origins of sense-making in twentieth-century Phenomenology and Communication theory and find its rich ontological, epistemological, and etymological heritage that dates back to the Pre-Socratics. After exploring sense-making’s Greek roots, I examine sense-making’s philosophical undercurrents found in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), where he also returns to the simplicity of the Greeks for his concept of sense. With Chapter Two I explore sense-making methodology and find, in light of the Greek and Hegelian dialectic, a dialogical bridge connecting sense-making’s theory with pragmatic uses. This bridge between Dervin’s situation and use occupies a distinct position in sense-making theory. Moreover, building upon Brenda Dervin’s model of sense-making, I use her metaphors of gap and bridge analogy to discuss the dialectic and dialogic components of sense making. The purpose of Chapter Three is pragmatic – to gain insight into the online information-seeking needs, experiences, and motivation of first-degree relatives (FDRs) of breast cancer survivors through the lens of sense-making. This research analyses four questions: 1) information-seeking behavior among FDRs of cancer survivors compared to survivors and to undiagnosed, non-related online cancer information seekers in the general population, 2) types of and places where information is sought, 3) barriers or gaps and satisfaction rates FDRs face in their cancer information quest, and 4) types and degrees of cancer information and resources FDRs want and use in their information search for themselves and other family members. An online survey instrument designed to investigate these questions was developed and pilot tested. Via an email communication, the Susan Love Breast Cancer Research Foundation distributed 322,000 invitations to its membership to complete the survey, and from March 24th to April 5th 10,692 women agreed to take the survey with 8,804 volunteers actually completing survey responses. Of the 8,804 surveys, 95% of FDRs have searched for cancer information online, and 84% of FDRs use the Internet as a sense-making tool for additional information they have received from doctors or nurses. FDRs report needing much more information than either survivors or family/friends in ten out of fifteen categories related to breast and ovarian cancer. When searching for cancer information online, FDRs also rank highest in several of sense-making’s emotional levels: uncertainty, confusion, frustration, doubt, and disappointment than do either survivors or friends and family. The sense-making process has existed in theory and praxis since the early Greeks. In applying sense–making’s theory to a contemporary problem, the survey reveals unaddressed situations and gaps of FDRs’ information search process. FDRs are a highly motivated group of online information seekers whose needs are largely unaddressed as a result of gaps in available online information targeted to address their specific needs. Since FDRs represent a quarter of the population, further research addressing their specific online information needs and experiences is necessary.

Communication of reproductive health information to the rural girl child in Filabusi, Zimbabwe.

Background: Despite a number of programs aimed at the transfer of reproductive health information, adolescents in Zimbabwe still face unprecedented reproductive challenges. Objectives: The study sought to explore adolescent girls’ knowledge of their sexual and reproductive health; the factors that influence their sexual behaviors and to determine the extent to which adolescents had access to sexual and reproductive health information. Methods: The case study methodology was used for the study. The interpretive paradigm was used as the methodological theory and Grunig’s model of excellence in communication was used as the substantive theory. Data was obtained through the use of focus group discussions and indepth interviews. Results: Although adolescents knew the different types of sexually transmitted diseases and were aware of the consequences of engaging in risky sexual behaviors, they engaged in health behaviors which had potential for serious consequences. The study established that adolescents did not have adequate access to sexual and reproductive health information. Sexual issues were not adequately addressed both at school and at home. Conclusion: Adolescents lack adequate access to reproductive health information and there is need for effective communication programs that contribute towards the understanding of communicated messages by audiences and the understanding of audiences by communicators.

Protocolo de la historia clínica de baja visión dentro del marco de la implementación del sistema health information management system (HIMS) en la clínica de optometría de La Universidad de La Salle

Tesis (Optometra). -- Universidad de La Salle, Facultad de Ciencias de La Salud. Programa de Optometria, 2014

Self-management and the health care consumer

This book is especially apt for those interested in implementing the practices and strategies that support programmes of health maintenance, preventive health and strategies for bringing about a change in personal and population health ...

An analysis on the utilisation of health information technology to support clinical operation of chinese medicine

Chinese Medicine (CM) has become increasingly demanding globally. Recent World Health Organisation traditional and complementary medicine strategy of integrating CM to Western Medicine (WM) indicates that it is crucial that CM developments have strong literature, scientific, and evidence-based medical approval and support. To achieve this, there is a need to form a synthesis foundation or platform for future studies. This chapter serves to discover this synthesis that is suitable for CM by discussing the basics of inquiring and Knowledge Management (KM) systems. It suggests that CM should follow a combination of Hegelian and Kantian inquiring systems with the support of Singerian and Leibnizian inquiring systems and KM features. This proposed synthesis is one of the first, if not the first study to apply Churchman's inquiring systems into the context of CM and differentiate them from WM.

A compilation of consumers' stories: the development of a video to enhance medication adherence in newly transplanted kidney recipients

AIM: To describe the design, development and evaluation of a consumer-centred video, which was underpinned by the Theory of Planned Behaviour and it was created to educate newly transplanted kidney recipients about the importance of medication adherence. BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation is a treatment whereby medication adherence is critical to ensure long-term kidney graft success. To date, many interventions aimed to improve medication adherence in kidney transplantation have been conducted but consumers remain largely uninvolved in the interventional design. DESIGN: Qualitative sequential design. METHODS: Twenty-two participants who had maintained their kidney transplant for at least 8 months and three participants who had experienced a kidney graft loss due to non-adherence were interviewed from March-May 2014 in Victoria, Australia. These interviews were independently reviewed by two researchers and were used to guide the design of the story plot and to identify storytellers for the video. The first draft of the video was evaluated by a panel of seven experts in the field, one independent educational expert and two consumers using Lynn's content validity questionnaire. The content of the video was regarded as highly relevant and comprehensive, which achieved a score of >3·7 out of a possible 4. RESULTS/FINDINGS: The final 18-minute video comprised 15 sections. Topics included medication management, the factors affecting medication adherence and the absolute necessity of adherence to immunosuppressive medications for graft survival. CONCLUSION: This paper has demonstrated the feasibility of creating a consumer-driven video that supports medication adherence in an engaging way.

Percepção dos pacientes submetidos à cirurgia ortognática sobre o cuidado pós-operatório

A ansiedade e a preocupação dos pacientes decorrentes da obscuridade das informações relacionadas ao procedimento cirúrgico ortognático despertou o desenvolvimento deste estudo, que objetivou identificar as necessidades de informação do paciente sobre o cuidado pós-operatório da cirurgia ortognática. Trata-se de pesquisa exploratória qualitativa, que utilizou como método de coleta de dados o grupo focal com pacientes em pós-operatório de cirurgia ortognática de um ambulatório de cirurgia e traumatologia bucomaxilofacial. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo para identificação das falas significativas para o alcance do objetivo. Entre os assuntos mais abordados, destacaram-se o longo tempo de recuperação e as dificuldades relacionadas à alimentação, higienização e redução dos sinais e sintomas pós-operatórios. Comentários relacionados à autoimagem e à satisfação com os resultados da cirurgia apontam para a necessidade de exploração em futuros estudos.

Integrating understandability in the evaluation of consumer health search engines

In this paper we propose a method that integrates the no- tion of understandability, as a factor of document relevance, into the evaluation of information retrieval systems for con- sumer health search. We consider the gain-discount evaluation framework (RBP, nDCG, ERR) and propose two understandability-based variants (uRBP) of rank biased precision, characterised by an estimation of understandability based on document readability and by different models of how readability influences user understanding of document content. The proposed uRBP measures are empirically contrasted to RBP by comparing system rankings obtained with each measure. The findings suggest that considering understandability along with topicality in the evaluation of in- formation retrieval systems lead to different claims about systems effectiveness than considering topicality alone.