Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INFORMATICS
Volume 81, Issue 6, Pages 374-387Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2011.12.010
Keywords
Usability; Information seeking behavior; Health communication; Internet; Biomedical technology; Consumer health information; Patient participation; Adherence
Categories
Funding
- RIVM
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: To improve the information position of health care consumers and to facilitate decision-making behavior in health the Dutch ministry of Health commissioned the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment to develop, host and manage a public national health and care portal (www.kiesbeter.nl) on the Internet. The portal is used by over 4 million visitors in 2010. Among them, an increasing amount of patients that use the portal for information and decision making on medical issues, healthy living, health care providers and other topics. Objective: First objective is to examine what usability aspects of the portal kiesBeter. nl matter for chronic patients and their informal carers with regard to information seeking, self-management, decision making, on line health information and other variables. Second objective is to make evidence-based practical recommendations for usability improvement. Methods: An innovative combination of techniques (semi-structured interviews; eHealth Literacy scale; scenario-based study using think-aloud protocol and screen capture software; focus group) is used to study usability and on line information seeking behavior in a non random judgment sample of three groups of patients (N = 21) with long-term medical conditions (arthritis, asthma and diabetes). Results: The search strategy mostly used (65%) by the relatively well-educated subjects is 'orienteering'. Users with long-term conditions and their carers expect tailored support from a national health portal, to help them navigate, search and find the detailed information they need. They encounter serious problems with these usability issues some of which are disease-specific. Patients indicate a need for personalized information. They report low impact on self-management and decision making. Overall judgment of usability is rated 7 on a Likert type 0-10 scale. Based on the outcomes recommendations could be formulated. These have led to major adaptations to improve usability. Limitations: A non-representative composition of a small non random judgment sample does not permit generalization to other populations and cognitive bias cannot be quantified. However if mixed methods are applied valid conclusions can be drawn with regard to usability issues. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available