Assessing the Distributed Nature of Home Health Information Management to Inform Human Factors Design

Abstract

In order to gain a deeper and more complete understanding of the job of health information management in the home, case studies of four families were carried out. Examination of household layouts, photographs and health information storage behaviors shows that health information is distributed across the household. This information is distributed across spaces. Storage patterns can be associated with where or when the information is used, frequency and urgency of use, and ownership. Using a human factors approach to understanding storage patterns can be of benefit to consumer health informatics designers in developing unique tools to support distributed home health information use.