User satisfaction and intent to use link to self-management behaviours

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A new article “Behavioral responses resulting from e-health services and the role of user satisfaction: the case of the online diabetes test” by Hai Thi Thanh Nguyen, Tommi Tapanainen, and Geoffrey Hubona reporting HIBA results has been published in Journal of Systems and Information Technology. The results show that people are willing to engage in health self-management behaviors if they intend to use the e-health service and are satisfied with it. User satisfaction can be enhanced by improving the visual appeal of the website presentation, the quality of the presented information, as well as the usability of the website, all as components of e-health services.

Read the article at the journal site.

HIBA gästar eHealth@LU

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HIBA-projektet gästar eHealth@LU, Lunds universitets ehälsoplattform, på ett  webbinarium den 4 mars 2021, kl 9–10 svensk tid då Isto berättar om HIBA och projektets resultat.

Mer information på eHealthLU hemsida: http://www.ehealth.lth.se/activities/workshops/20th-webinar/

Registrera dig här till webbinarium med Isto Huvila: http://www.ehealth.lth.se/activities/registration-form-webinar-20/

Deadline av registreringen: 2 mars 2021

Explaining age-related variation in the use of patient accessible electronic health records

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A new article reporting findings on age-related variation in how people use patient accessible electronic health records has been published in Information Technology and People. The study is collaborative work between HIBA project and Swedish DOME research consortium and is freely available as open access.

The results show that younger respondents of a survey study conducted in Sweden were more likely to be interested in PAEHR contents for general interest. They did not value online access to the information as high as older ones. Older respondents were instead inclined to use medical records information to understand their health condition, prepare for visits, become involved in their own healthcare and think that technology has a much potential. Moreover, the oldest respondents were more likely to consider the information in the patient accessible electronic health records useful and aimed for them but to experience the technology as inherently difficult to use.

The study shows also how people in different ages think differently about information and technology, and how information technologies like patient accessible electronic health records should be studied separately from information and technology perspectives. People can have different views of technologies and the information they are used to make available. To understand the different views, the study suggests to look not only to people’s technological but also to their informational frames of reference.

Citation

Huvila, I., Cajander, Å., Moll, J., Enwald, H., Eriksson-Backa, K. and Rexhepi, H.(2021), “Technological and informational frames: explaining age-related variation in the use of patient accessible electronic health records as technology and information”, Information Technology & People, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-08-2020-0566

Abstract

Purpose

Data from a national patient survey (N = 1,155) of the Swedish PAEHR “Journalen” users were analysed, and an extended version of the theory of technological frames was developed to explain the variation in the technological and informational framing of information technologies found in the data.

Design/methodology/approach

Patient Accessible Electronic Health Records (PAEHRs) are implemented globally to address challenges with an ageing population. However, firstly, little is known about age-related variation in PAEHR use, and secondly, user perceptions of the PAEHR technology and the health record information and how the technology and information–related perceptions are linked to each other. The purpose of this study is to investigate these two under-studied aspects of PAEHRs and propose a framework based on the theory of technological frames to support studying the second aspect, i.e. the interplay of information and technology–related perceptions.

Findings

The results suggest that younger respondents were more likely to be interested in PAEHR contents for general interest. However, they did not value online access to the information as high as older ones. Older respondents were instead inclined to use medical records information to understand their health condition, prepare for visits, become involved in their own healthcare and think that technology has a much potential. Moreover, the oldest respondents were more likely to consider the information in PAEHRs useful and aimed for them but to experience the technology as inherently difficult to use.

Research limitations/implications

The sample excludes non-users and is not a representative sample of the population of Sweden. However, although the data contain an unknown bias, there are no specific reasons to believe that it would differently affect the survey’s age groups.

Practical implications

Age should be taken into account as a key factor that influences perceptions of the usefulness of PAEHRs. It is also crucial to consider separately patients’ views of PAEHRs as a technology and of the information contained in the EHR when developing and evaluating existing and future systems and information provision for patients.

Social implications

This study contributes to bridging the gap between information behaviour and systems design research by showing how the theory of technological frames complemented with parallel informational frames to provide a potentially powerful framework for elucidating distinct conceptualisations of (information) technologies and the information they mediate. The empirical findings show how information and information technology needs relating to PAEHRs vary according to age. In contrast to the assumptions in much of the earlier work, they need to be addressed separately.

Originality/value

Few earlier studies focus on (1) age-related variation in PAEHR use and (2) user perceptions of the PAEHR technology and the health record information and how the technology and information–related perceptions are linked to each other.

Keywords

  • Information seeking behaviour
  • End users
  • Technology
  • Theoretical concepts

Classifying Health Information Interactions and their Motivations

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Some more HIBA findings were presented at the International Conference on Health Information Management Research (ISHIMR) organized online by Linnaeus University and the University of Sheffield. Material for the presentation that focused on developing a classification of the types of interactions with electronic patient portals and health records can be found below.

Abstract

Current research on electronic patient portals and electronic health records shows a broad range of benefits to both patients, healthcare professionals and healthcare when patients are allowed to take part of their medical record information. There are, however, shortcomings in the current knowledge about patients’ and other stakeholders’ information interactions with electronic health record systems and what motivates them to use these. We present a tentative classification of information interactions with an electronic patient portal, the stakeholders involved in the interactions and reasons that motivate patients to interact with electronic health record information. The purpose with the classification scheme is 1) to inform the design of useful health information access systems, and simultaneously to 2) contribute to the broader information interaction research by acting as a first step in developing a more generic classification that brings together information interactions, their stakeholders and stakeholder motivations to engage with information.

HIBA @ ASIS&T-EC Health Information Behaviour Symposium

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Results from several past and on-going HIBA studies were featured in a presentation held by Heidi at the Information Science Trends symposium on Health Information behaviour organised by the ASIS&T European Chapter this week.

Abstract

New e-health services and technologies are developed around the world with expectations of multiple individual and system-wide benefits. Even if there is no single reason why many e-health projects have failed to deliver their expected gains, one central contributing factor has been their narrow focus on technology and a failure to understand the use of e-health in the context of citizens’ general health information behaviour. Here we report key findings from the ongoing research project Taking Health Information Behaviour into Account: implications of a neglected element for successful implementation of consumer health technologies on older adults, funded by the Academy of Finland (2015-2020). The project aims at explicating premises for the development of e-health services that are comprehensible, meaningful, and useful in the context of how older adults seek, use and manage information, and more specifically health information, in their everyday lives.

Persuasive technology 2020 conference

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The Persuasive Technology conference brings together international researchers and practitioners from industry and academia who are working in the field of behaviour design and persuasive technologies. Instead of gathering to Aalborg, Denmark, Persuasive Technology 2020 conference was arranged as a virtual event, due to CoVid19 situation. On LinkedIn the group Persuasive Technology Network hosted the event and most of the presentations were shared as videos.

HIBA was presented as a poster in a virtual poster session!

See the poster in pdf-format:

Persuasive 2020 poster for LinkedIn Enwald_v2

On the side of the conference the Eighth International workshop on behavior change support systems (BCSS 2020) was hold as a virtual event via Zoom. In this event, member of HIBA research project, Heidi Enwald, had a interdisciplinary presentation titled “Combining personalization, tailoring, persuasive design and gamification – Where do we stand?” The presentation cultivated discussion on how same phenomena are approached from different standpoints of research and why it would be so important to follow what is done and published in other research fields.

 

Review study on older adults’ views on e-health

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A HIBA project review on earlier literature on older adults’ views on e-health services shows that a heterogeneous body of research exists on older adults’ views on eHealth services. Common themes in the literature include eHealth service uses, enablers and barriers, and outcomes. eHealth service use can have positive outcomes but also negative consequences. The findings show that the methodological approach of the study is linked with the type of findings reported. There seems also to be a positivity bias particularly in quantitative studies.

Citation: Hirvonen, N.; Enwald, H.; Känsäkoski, H.; Eriksson-Backa, K.; Nguyen, H.; Huhta, A.-M. & Huvila, I. Older adults’ views on eHealth services: a systematic review of scientific journal articles. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 2020, 135.

What is usefulness?

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A new HIBA article discusses the meaning of usefulness in the context of health information and ehealth use and more broadly how it has been and could be used in information science research. Instead of focussing merely on relevance of information or usability of systems, the focus on usefulness can help to address the user and use (versus e.g. system, content or topic) perspective to engagements with people, services, systems and beyond. The article, available on open access, is based on presentation held in June at CoLIS 10 conference in Ljubljana and published as part of the proceedings that conference in Information Research journal.

Huvila, I.; Enwald, H.; Hirvonen, N. & Eriksson-Backa, K.
The concept of usefulness in library and information science research.
Information Research, 2019, 24(4), paper colis1907.

Abstract: There is not much doubt that information, information services and systems need to be useful. In this light, the relatively lack of conceptual elaboration of the concept of usefulness in the library and information science literature can be regarded as somewhat surprising. This paper provides a conceptual overview of the use of the notion of usefulness in library and information science literature, explicates its relation to key parallel concepts, and on the basis of an empirical vignette in the context of health information research, discusses the potential limits and advantages of referring to usefulness instead of and together with other related concepts. A review of literature relating to the concept of usefulness was conducted to examine how it has been used in library and information science. A close reading of the literature shows an overlap between related concepts but at the same time, diverging foci of interest in and emphasis on what and how information, information services and, for instance, information systems are considered beneficial or suitable for their users and particular uses. There is a need for better conceptual clarity in the literature regarding usefulness and related concepts. The review shows that usefulness can be literally a useful concept for addressing the user and use (versus e.g. system, content or topic) perspective to engagements with people, services, systems and beyond.

ASIST 2019

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The Annual Meeting of Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) was organized in Melbourne, Australia at 19th to 23rd October 2019.

The theme of the conference was INFORMATION… ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANY TIME, ANY WAY

ASIST could be considered as one of the main conferences of Library and Information Science (LIS) field. This year conference was already 82nd meeting of this research community. This was the second time ever outside of North America and first time it was organized in Australia!

The keynote speakers

In her opening keynote ‘Mixing reality for cultural proliferation’ Mikaela Jade discussed her journey as an Indegenous woman building a technology company Indigital. The company works to develop new ways to digitise and translate knowledge and culture from remote communities.

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Opening keynote photo from ASIST 2019 pages

Helena Teede, an Endocrinologist, the Executive Director of Monash Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre and Director of the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, School of Public Health, Monash University gave the closing keynote ‘Changing the Paradigm: Driving Disruption Through Collaboration to Create a Learning Health System’.

She talked about the lack of strategic planning of research, silos & lack of systems approaches. The ideas of data-driven healthcare improvement were strongly present in her statements and she also called for metrics to guide action in healthcare.

General notions and an example of a panel

Regarding to education in LIS field, data science seemed to be a hot topic, especially in the USA. Several sessions related to this discussion. Past was pondered, e.g., in a panel named Does Information Science Need History and Foundations? Furthermore, also the future of the field raised in the discussions. ASIST has always presentations and panels from a wide spectrum of topics and this year was not an exception. Everything between Breaking Social Media Bubbles for Information Globalization to Research Data Sharing Across National Borders. The Final Program Booklet can be found from here.

As an example of the several interesting panel discussions available in the conference we highlight here one.

Kristina attended a panel discussion about digital equity for marginalized and displaced people. The panellists were Gregory Rolan and Sue McKemmish, both from Monash University, Australia, Kathy Carbone from UCLA, USA, and Barbara Reed from Recordkeeping Innovation in Australia. The theme included for example refugees, stateless people or otherwise geographically displaced people but also children taken into custody. Digital equity was seen as equity for all in new and emerging digital information systems, also those who do not participate within the digital sphere. Documentation overall was seen as central, both the right to having ones information kept in records, and to know where possible records exist, what they contain and why they have been created. These records can be of different kinds, including digital health records. In addition to more formal records, also, for example, children in care could have apps where they can keep their own records.

HIBA project

The members of HIBA were well presented in the panel discussion “Information Behaviour and Practices Research Informing Technology and Service Design”.

The panel discussion, lead by Noora Hirvonen, included short presentations from Isto Huvila (via a video), Ying-Shang Liu, Kristina Eriksson-Backa and Heidi Enwald.

The panel discussion, lead by Noora Hirvonen, included short presentations from Isto Huvila (via a video), Ying-Shang Liu, Kristina Eriksson-Backa and Heidi Enwald. After the presentations the discussion was openned and we received many interesting and lively questions and comments.

Isto discussed archaeology-related information work and practices in relation to development of documentation and information management technologies and services. Heidi talked about her research about health promotion e-health services design and HIL from the projects MOPO, GASEL and PrevMetSyn.

Ying-Hsang Liu from Australian National University in Canberra presented his work with engineers in the aerospace industry, for whom he is a consultant. According to him, industry understands challenges but may not have solutions and hence IBP models and theories are important. Engineers are also interested in metrics and hence we need to communicate with them about metrics, what results can be expected. In industry, time is valuable; results might be needed within a certain time limit. There is also a challenge with working with industry projects in that they are concerned about intellectual property and thus results might have to be kept secret.

Kristina presented the HIBA project and three of the studies conducted within it: the online survey study on diabetes risk test users by Hai Nguyen, the focus group study of older adults’ views on MyKanta and the recently conducted national survey of 1500 Finns aged 55-70 years, and their health information behaviour and views of e-health services. Some implications concerning the format and contents of e-health services based on the results were presented.

More info about our panel:

Huvila I, Enwald H, Eriksson-Backa K, Liu Y-H & Hirvonen N (2019) Information behaviour and practises research informing technology and service design. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology , 56(1), 541-545. ASIS&T 2019, Melbourne, Australia, 19-23 October 2019. (Panels and alternative events) https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pra2.86?af=R

We also had time to go and meet some penguins!

About ASIST: https://www.asist.org/

2020 ASIS&T Annual Meeting goes to Pittsburgh!