EHealth literacy issues, constructs, models, and methods for health information technology design and evaluation

Helen Monkman ,André Kushniruk ,Cahs Fellow

doi:10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.036

Helen Monkman , André Kushniruk + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2015.07.036

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Abstract

The concept of eHealth literacy is beginning to be recognized as a being of key importance in the design and adoption of effective and efficient health information systems and applications targeted to lay people and patients. Indeed, many systems such as patient portals and personal health records have not been adopted due to a mismatch between the level of eHealth literacy demanded by a system and the level of eHealth literacy possessed by end users. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of important concepts related to eHealth literacy, as well as how the notion of eHealth literacy can be applied to improve the design and adoption of consumer health information systems. This paper begins with describing the importance of eHealth literacy with respect to design of health applications for the general public paired with examples of consumer health information systems whose limited success and adoption has been attributed to the lack of consideration for eHealth literacy. This is followed by definitions of what eHealth literacy is and how it emerged from the related concept of health literacy. A model for conceptualizing the importance of aligning consumers’ eHealth literacy skills and the demands systems place on their skills is then described. Next, current tools for assessing consumers’ eHealth literacy levels are outlined, followed by an approach to systematically incorporating eHealth literacy in the deriving requirements for new systems is presented. Finally, a discussion of evolving approaches for incorporating eHealth literacy into usability engineering methods is presented.

Highlights

It has become increasingly recognized that the success or failure of health information systems and applications designed for laypeople, patients, and consumers depends on factors related to the match between the demands a system places on a user and the end user’s level of eHealth literacy
New types of information systems and applications are being made available to the public, including personal health records (PHRs), personal health portals (PHPs), patient clinical information systems
We will explore how concepts, methods, and perspectives for understanding eHealth literacy have applied for improving the effectiveness of healthcare information systems, applications and electronic resources designed for use by patients and the general public

Summary

Introduction

It has become increasingly recognized that the success or failure of health information systems and applications designed for laypeople, patients, and consumers depends on factors related to the match between the demands a system (or application) places on a user and the end user’s level of eHealth literacy. It is recognized as being critical that end users to identify, understand, and apply information provided to them through the growing number and range of electronic resources becoming available these systems must be usable and the content must be understandable. The concepts have important implications for the analysis, design, and implementation of a wide range of health applications and information systems developed for use by health consumers or lay people

Background

Usability inspection

Usability testing

Conclusion