Are there patterns of behavior across homes and community entities with respect to health information access and dissemination that can be described and incorporated into health-related community IT design? Advanced Technologies for Health@Home aims to answer that question.

This project will explore management of health information within the households of the Dodge-Jefferson community to gain an understanding of citizen health information processing in order to provide a basis and direction for future home health information technology solutions and health information technology infrastructure decision-making at the community level.

The study's goals are to:

1. Study how people manage information in their homes.
2. Study where and how health information is accessed/disseminated through the community.
3. Study the readiness for consumer health IT solutions within and across the local health care communities.
4. Integrate and abstract the information we collect to guide development of a prototype IT resource tailored to the needs of the individual within the context of his or her community.

Project Description

The overall project consists of three sequenced, but somewhat overlapping, phases, each planned to take about a year. Primary data collection and analysis for phase one, Health@Home, aimed at studying household health information management practices and need and technology readiness, and phase two, Assessment and Research of Community Health Information Resources (ARCHIR), are complete (fall 2003). However, we have enhanced and extended the in-home study by two additional research protocols that are now in progress. These include a set of family case studies to investigate in depth the different attitudes, practices, and needs of alternative family-structure and cultural groups we discovered in the phase-one household survey, and focus-group research to further focus household and health information-provider concerns on a possible technological design solution. Phase 3, the prototype design and user testing, is set to begin in fall 2003.

Reports and Analysis

We will provide project status reports and other documents on this site as analysis and reports are completed.

Understanding the Community

1. In Home Assessment
2. Family Case Studies
3. Focus Groups

Understandig Community Resources

1. ARCHIR