Health Informatics Journal

This paper describes a project to enhance the learning experience of students, in which a multimedia healthcare case study and associated tasks are being developed and evaluated within the Distance Learning MSc in Health Informatics programme at the University of Sheffield. The paper provides background context and motivation for the case study, followed by a description of its content, which is based upon a general practice change management scenario. The way in which this material was researched and developed is reviewed, covering rationale, methodology and the strategy for evaluation. Early evaluation suggests that the introduction of the case study is having a positive effect on the problem of isolation experienced by students on distance learning courses. The paper also reflects on the overheads of this project. Those with substantial experience in computer-assisted learning should be involved at an early stage, and planning and sequencing of both the case study itself and between the case study and the course should be given attention. The paper concludes that benefits of the approach are significant, and include better integration of course modules, shared decision making and group problem solving.

Good quality health-related information on the Internet is important for patients and their carers, enabling them to take greater responsibility in healthcare decisions. Carers of people with Alzheimer's disease require access to high quality medical, personal, practical and financial information. The Internet contains large quantities of health-related information and potentially has an important role to play in providing information for carers of people with Alzheimer's disease. The aim of the study was to evaluate a sample of Websites that provide information about Alzheimer's disease for carers of people with this condition using a selection of Website evaluation tools. A sample of 15 Websites providing information on Alzheimer's disease were evaluated using each of four evaluation tools. The Websites were ranked according to the scores they achieved with each tool. The correlation coefficient of the rankings of the Websites for each pair of tools was determined. There was a significant correlation between four of the six pairs of evaluation tools. Several Websites were ranked highly across the evaluation tools. The study identified problems in using generic health-information Website evaluation tools for sites providing information about specific diseases. The need to develop specific health-information Website evaluation tools and possibilities of how they might be further refined in the future were highlighted.

This study is based on an analysis of administrative information processes within outpatient clinics within an NHS acute Trust. The aim is to improve outdated practice. Problems had previously been identified but the Trust had considered neither process refinement nor replacement. In order to determine a means for overcoming the emerging cultural obstructions, Ward and Elvin's 1999 framework for managing IT-enabled business change [1] provides a means to assess the likelihood of successful system improvement. This now needs to be updated in the light of the revised framework by Elvin and Davies [2]. The current study concludes that process improvement would not deliver all of the anticipated benefits without process replacement.

Studies suggest that people with a limited command of English find it difficult to obtain adequate access to healthcare and health information. Language barriers mean that they have insufficient knowledge about the range of health services available, and very little health-related information meets their individual language needs.

The aim of the study discussed in this paper was to examine the potential for new technology to provide better access to health information for Asian people who cannot communicate in English. A questionnaire was sent to a purposive sample of 90 HPUs (health promotion units) to gain some knowledge from health promotion specialists concerning this issue.

The results of this study revealed that there are gaps in information provision for non-English speaking Asian people. Videos and verbal presentations were considered to be the two most effective formats of information for use with this target group. Respondents valued interactivity, as they said that people should be able to ask questions about the health information they see. HPUs are beginning to attempt to use new technology to provide health information in Asian languages, although many respondents are aware of potential problems associated with this. The study concludes that new technology can be useful if simple, user-friendly systems such as touch-screens are used. New technologies can also be made more interactive than leaflets and videos.

This paper discusses the relationship between information culture and social capital, a phenomenon which has lately been brought forth as a decisive factor in human health and wellbeing. The phenomenon may be seen as an umbrella concept for all the advantages an individual can get from social support. It has been studied especially by researchers in social and health sciences, whereas information and communication sciences have paid considerably less attention to it, although it has implicitly been a generally accepted fact that the single individual is formed by his or her social environment. The power of the social environment and communication on the members in a collective particularly stresses the social malleability of the individual. The importance of information culture in this process is brought up for discussion in this paper.