Information Services Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Objectives To explore how parents navigate urgent and emergency care (U&EC) services when their child <5 years old has a feverish illness, their views of that experience and whether services are meeting their needs and triaging in line with national guidance. Design Parents of a febrile child <5 years old contacting any U&EC service in three localities during a 6-month period were invited to participate in a telephone questionnaire supplemented by case note review. A subset participated in an in-depth interview. Results Of 556 parents expressing an interest, 220 enrolled, making 570 contacts (median 3, range 1-13) with services during the child's illness which lasted 3 days on average. Parents' fi rst preference for advice in hours was to see a general practitioner (GP) (67%; 93/138) and when unavailable, National Health Service Direct (46%; 38/82). 155 made more than one contact and 63% of the repeat contacts were initiated by a service provider. A range of factors infl uenced parents' use of services. Parents who reported receiving 'safety netting' advice (81%) were less likely to re-present to U&EC services than those who did not recall receiving such advice (35% vs 52%, p=0.01). Parents identifi ed a need for accurate, consistent, written advice regarding fever and antipyretics. Conclusion Parents know the U&EC service options available, and their fi rst choice is the GP. Multiple contacts are being made for relatively well children, often due to repeated referrals within the system. Safety netting advice reduces re-attendances but parents want explicit and consistent advice for appropriate home management.

- by and +1
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- Family Practice, England, Information Services, Infant

This study examines whether the romantic comedy as an information source can impact on and shape viewer attitude toward and intention to visit a place. Data were collected from patrons at a large cinema chain located in a major shopping center in Australia. Using an experimental approach, the experimental group watched a romantic comedy set in New York, whereas the control group did not. Subjects in the experimental group had significantly higher empathy, past experience, place familiarity, attitude toward, intention to visit New York, and significantly lower performance/financial risk associated with visiting New York than the control group. Furthermore, perceived social risk played a significant role in influencing place familiarity in the control group. This suggests that romantic comedies can be an effective information source in allaying viewers' concerns about a movie location. This article provides researchers with theoretical underpinning for future empirical studies in ...

- by Vanessa Quintal
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- Marketing, Psychology, Risk, Cinema

The challenge for this task force was to outline potential contributions of psychology to address the cancer problem, the second major cause of death and disability in the United States. The first section of this report provides general directions for behavioral and psychological research. These contributions span description, the study of mechanisms underlying psychological and behavioral responses, and efforts to reduce incidence, morbidity, and mortality. (For the reader unfamiliar with the literature, an accompanying article-Andersen, this issue-reviews previous accomplishments.) The present discussion is organized into disease-relevant intervals. Although the majority of topics fit within this division, certain themes (e.g., the importance of theory for the understanding and integration of empirical findings) are relevant to all. A second section addresses two important contexts for research and development: research training and funding. A final section provides a brief discussion of dissemination of psychological and behavioral findings. We have undoubtedly overlooked important topics; however, the overriding principle of this report is to provide a stimulus for discussion and future programmatic research efforts.

- by Lydia Temoshok
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- Health Psychology, Education, Research Design, Health

o connect practices, outcomes, quality, value, T and costs, healthcare organizations must start using a balanced scorecard. A balanced scorecard is a set of measures that reveals the interdependency of the organization, its employees, and its patients. It thus serves as a balanced perspective on the organization for senior management to use in designing, developing, deploying, and directing the strategic plan, consistent with total quality management principles.

- by Kicab Castaneda-Mendez
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- Nursing, Information Services, Total Quality Management, New York
- by Henry Schaffer
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- Information Technology, Services, Data Management, Cloud Computing

In the application domain of online information services such as online census information, health records and real-time stock quotes, there are at least two fundamental challenges: the protection of users' privacy and the assurance of service availability. We present a fault-tolerant scheme for private information retrieval (FT-PIR) that protects users' privacy and ensures service provision in the presence of malicious server failures. An error detection algorithm is introduced into this scheme to detect the corrupted results from servers. The analytical and experimental results show that the FT-PIR scheme can tolerate malicious server failures effectively and prevent any information of users from being leaked to attackers. This new scheme does not rely on any unproven cryptographic premise and the availability of tamperproof hardware. An implementation of the FT-PIR scheme on a distributed database system suggests just a modest level of performance overhead.

- by Erica Yang
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- Information Retrieval, Privacy, Cryptography, Distributed System

To develop and test the reliability of a tool for rating websites that provide information on evidence-based medicine. For each site, 60% of the score was given for content (eight criteria) and 40% was given for organization and presentation (nine criteria). Five of 10 randomly selected sites met the inclusion criteria and were used by three observers to test the accuracy of the tool. Each site was rated twice by each observer, with a 3-week interval between ratings. Laval University, Quebec city. Three observers. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to rate the reliability of the tool. Average overall scores for the five sites were 40%, 79%, 83%, 88%, and 89%. All three observers rated the same two sites in fourth and fifth place and gave the top three ratings to the other three sites. The overall rating of the five sites by the three observers yielded an ICC of 0.93 to 0.97. An ICC of 0.87 was obtained for the two overall ratings conducted 3 weeks apart. This new ...

Este artigo tem como objetivo principal apresentar e discutir os fundamentos da gestão da qualidade e da nova versão da NBR ISO 9001, incluindo a aplicação do enfoque por processos nos serviços de informação, com o objetivo de apoiar a melhoria dos processos implantados nestes serviços e principalmente apoiar seu gerenciamento, visando à otimização de recursos e à elevação dos níveis de satisfação dos clientes, itens considerados fundamentais pelas organizações que optam por programas relacionados à gestão da qualidade.

- by Valéria Valls
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- Engineering, Quality Management, Service Quality, Standardization

Please cite this article in press as: S.A. Zakane, et al., Guidelines for maternal and neonatal "point of care": Needs of and attitudes towards a computerized clinical decision support system in rural Burkina Faso, Int. J. Med. Inform.... more

- by Pia Bastholm-rahmner and +1
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- Engineering, Information Technology, Technology, Medical Informatics

Background: Despite the increases in health promotion and educational programs on HIV and AIDS, lack of information and communication on HIV and AIDS for the visually impaired persons continues. The underlying factors that create the information and communication gaps have not been fully explored in Zambia. It is therefore important that, this situational analysis on HIV and AIDS information dissemination to persons with visual impairments at Kang'onga Production Centre in Ndola was conducted. The study commenced in December 2014 to May 2015. Methods: A qualitative case study design was employed. The study used two focus group discussions with males and females. Each group comprised twelve participants. Eight in-depth interviews involving the visually impaired persons and five key informants working with visually impaired persons were conducted. Data was analysed thematically using NVIVO 8 software. Ethical clearance was sought from Excellency in Research Ethics and Science. Reference Number 2014-May-030. Results: It was established that most visually impaired people lacked knowledge on the cause, transmission and treatment of HIV and AIDS resulting in misconceptions. It was revealed that health promoters and people working with the visually impaired did not have specific HIV and AIDS information programs in Zambia. Further, it was discovered that the media, information education communication and health education were channels through which the visually impaired accessed HIV and AIDS information. Discrimination, stigma, lack of employment opportunities, funding and poverty were among the many challenges identified which the visually impaired persons faced in accessing HIV and AIDS information. Integration of the visually impaired in HIV and AIDS programs would increase funding for economic empowerment and health promotions in order to improve communication on HIV and AIDS information. The study showed that, the visually impaired persons in Zambia are not catered for in the dissemination of HIV and AIDS information. Available information is not user-friendly because it is in unreadable formats thereby increasing the potential for misinformation and limitations to their access. This calls for innovations in the communication on HIV and AIDS information health promotion to the target groups.

- by Doreen Sitali
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- Communication, Focus Groups, Health Education, Qualitative Research
- by Pushkala Prasad
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- Marketing, Perception, Tourism, Representation

В статье на основе анализа применяемых различными международными организациями методологий оценивания свободы информации, принятия во внимание отсутствия в них важных показателей, отражающих степень вмешательства государства в процесс предоставления информационных услуг, а также ссылаясь на философию оценивания степени государственного вмешательства в экономику профессора Н. Музаффарли, разработана методология оценивания степени либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг. Таким образом, создан Индекс либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг, позволяющий оценить степень вмешательства государства в процесс их предоставления. Индекс состоит из четырех субиндексов - Субиндекса свободы средств массовой информации, свободы электронных услуг, свободы рекламы и свободы почтовых услуг. Проведено оценивание степени либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг в 32 странах мира. В результате проведенного исследования установлено, что самой либеральной страной по интегральному индексу является Турция, самой дирижистской страной является Дания. Азербайджан входит в группу стран с умеренно либеральной сферой информационных услуг. В странах с более либеральной сферой информационных услуг средний уровень ВВП на душу населения ниже, чем в странах, где государство более активно вмешивается в сферу. Ключевые слова: индекс либеральности (дирижизма) информационных услуг, сфера информационных услуг, государственное вмешательство, либеральность, дирижизм, информация In the article on the base of analysis of methodologies applied by various international organizations for the assessment of information freedom, on the base of taking into consideration the lack of important indicators in them reflecting the degree of government intervention in the provision of information services, and also referring to the philosophy of assessing the degree of government intervention in the economy of professor N. Muzaffarli, the methodology of the assessment of the degree of liberalism (dirigisme) of information services is worked. So, the Index of liberalism (dirigisme) of information services, making it possible to assess the degree of government intervention in the process of their provision is created. The Index consists of four sub-indices-Sub-index of freedom of media, freedom of e-services, freedom of advertisement and freedom of postal services. The degree of liberalism (dirigisme) of information services in 32 countries is assessed. In the result of the research made it was defined that the most liberal country on the integral index is Turkey, the most dirigist country-is Denmark. Azerbaijan is in the group of countries with moderate-liberal information services sector. In countries with more liberal information services sector average GDP per capita is lower than in countries, where government intervenes into the sector more active.

It is a given, today, that the internet as a platform has been used to index more documents than the world's libraries put together. Additionally, majority of the documents that were previously stored on the shelves by libraries in the past are now part of these online collections. In this paper, a brief review of early attempts at the organization of knowledge outside of the libraries based on Rayward (1994) was carried out with a view to linking the past to the present. What exactly was the motivation for the establishment of the office of publicke addresse by Samuel Hartlib and John Dury, and the information bureau suggested by Leibniz? Is there any commercial motivation behind Paul Otlet's Mundaneum? With the understanding that the most capitalized internet service organization (Google) today is involved in reference services similar to those proposed by Hartlib, Dury, and Leibniz, is the end in sight for knowledge organization within the library?

- by Noah Samuel and +1
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- Knowledge Management, Knowledge sharing, History of Library and Information Science, Information Services

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is a major public health problem worldwide. In 2004, the Pediatric Dengue Cohort Study was established in Managua, Nicaragua, to study the natural history and transmission of dengue in children. Here, the authors describe the study design, methods, and results from 2004 to 2008. Initially, 3,721 children 2-9 years of age were recruited through door-to-door visits. Each year, new children aged 2 years are enrolled in the study to maintain the age structure. Children are provided with medical care through the study, and data from each medical visit are recorded on systematic study forms. All participants presenting with suspected dengue or undifferentiated fever are tested for dengue by virologic, serologic, and molecular biologic assays. Yearly blood samples are collected to detect inapparent dengue virus infections. Numerous information and communications technologies are used to manage study data, track samples, and maintain quality control, including personal data assistants, barcodes, global information systems, and fingerprint scans. Close collaboration with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health and use of almost entirely local staff are essential components for success. This study is providing critical data on the epidemiology and transmission of dengue in the Americas needed for future vaccine trials.

- by Oscar Ortega
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- Information Systems, Information Technology, Technology, Information Management

Priority research needs determined by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for the agencys top-ranked hazardous substances are being filled via regulatory mechanisms, private sector voluntarism, and university-based research. To date, 17 studies have been completed, 12 are ongoing, and 12 are currently planned. Under the direction of the Substance-Specific Applied Research Program (SSARP), ATSDR-supported research has filled research needs that significantly improved the information base available for making appropriate public health decisions. With the knowledge and understanding gained from this research, health professionals are better able to identify and interdict significant exposure and mitigate toxicity when exposure occurs. Thus, the SSARP has played, and continues to play, a vital role in contributing towards improving ATSDR's efforts to meet its mission and goals in environmental public health. In addition to addressing research needs of interest to ATSDR, findings from the program have contributed to the overall scientific knowledge about the effects of toxic substances in the environment.

- by Mildred Williams-Johnson
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- Decision Making, Environmental Health, Applied Research, Public Health

Study Design. Review of advances in the primary care research on low back pain (LBP) from a unique international forum, and analysis of open-ended questionnaires from participants. Summary of Background Data. LBP continues to be one of the most common and challenging problems in primary care. It is associated with enormous costs in terms of direct health care expenditures, and indirect work and disability-related losses.

- by Shmuel Reis
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- Biomedical Engineering, Primary Health Care, Evidence Based Medicine, Spine

This paper describes a quantitative method of measurement and evaluation of the information provided by hotel websites. It aims to measure the richness of specific and comprehensive information dimensions, which as a whole constitute the information services offered through the web. Data from an extended web search along with responses of hotel managers regarding the importance of the offered information services are used. A conceptual model that describes the hotel web sites information features is used in order to summarize the data and to present the overall information volume offered. The applied model combines seven data dimensions: facilities information, customer contact information, reservation and prices information, surrounding area information, management of the web site, company information and communication. Hotel managers’ perceptions are used to weight the relative importance of both the information services and the seven dimensions. We apply the model to Greek hotel ...

- by Derek G Law
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- Information Science, Publishing, Information Management, Metadata

This paper reports a questionnaire-based investigation into the knowledge sources used by nurses in two Turkish university hospitals, and whether these knowledge sources were related to sociodemographic variables. 78.5% of the nurses said that practice should be based on evidence and 75.9% stated that this evidence should come from research. 80.7% stated that evidence-based practice was useful. However, evidence that was not based on research constituted the first three most frequently used sources of knowledge. Sources of evidencebased on research were detected as being in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 10th positions regarding the frequency of use. The nurses expressed a belief that nursing practices should be based on evidence, but did not reflect this belief in their behavior.

- by Melek Ardahan
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- Nursing, Evidence Based Medicine, Computer Literacy, Turkey

Opportunities for sonographer-initiated research have increased during the past decade. Although research has traditionally been viewed as a nonclinical activity, funding is available for clinical problems. This article aims to increase sonographer awareness of this unique opportunity, encourage the submission of grant proposals, and enhance the understanding of the grant writing process. This review discusses the procedures involved in planning a research project while describing the structure of the research grant proposal including specific aims, background, preliminary studies, methods, potential limitations, significance, budget, and references. (J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2005;18: 264-7.)

- by Claudia Korcarz
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- Research Design, Writing, Echocardiography, Information Services
- by Philip Yu
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- Business, Machine Learning, Data Mining, Engineering Management

Background: Standard case criteria are proposed for combined use of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule to diagnose autism and to define the broader category of autism spectrum disorders. Method: Single and combined Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule algorithms were compared to best estimate diagnoses in four samples: U.S. (n = 960) and Canadian (n = 232) participants 3 years and older, U.S. participants younger than 36 months (n = 270), and U.S. participants older than 36 months with profound mental retardation (n = 67). Results: Sensitivities and specificities of 80% and higher were obtained when strict criteria for an autism diagnosis using both instruments were applied in the U.S. samples, and 75% or greater in the Canadian sample. Single-instrument criteria resulted in significant loss of specificity. Specificity was poor in the sample with profound mental retardation. Lower sensitivity and specificity were also obtained when proposed criteria for broader spectrum disorders were applied. Conclusions: The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule make independent, additive contributions to the judgment of clinicians that result in a more consistent and rigorous application of diagnostic criteria. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2006;45(9):1094Y1103.

- by Susan Risi
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- Demography, Information Services, Child, Differential Diagnosis

The quality of research is dependent on quality of resources and facilities provided by universities for the promotion of research. The internet facilitates the researchers to access the latest information in their field of knowledge instantly at their figure tips. This paper explores the role of internet in promoting research in university libraries in Karnataka state and its impact on library usage in the present day. This paper also highlights the ICT infrastructure, ICT based resources and services available on the six traditional University Libraries in Karnataka State. The authors made an attempt to reveals the internet use and perceptions of the research scholars in the university libraries in Karnataka state. Further, the study has attempted to identify the gap between internet information needs and delivery of the same.

- by Umesha Naik
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- Information Services, University libraries, Information Resources, Internet

Objectives: Cancer treatment can impair fertility. The aim of this review was to investigate (1) fertility information needs, receipt and provision, (2) fertility information preferences, and (3) factors associated with receiving/providing fertility information. Cancer patients' and professional caregivers' perspectives were considered. Design: Mixed-methods systematic review. lists and conference abstracts were checked for additional publications. Review methods: The principles outlined in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Intervention were applied. Publications were included if they explored fertility-related information/communication in cancer patients/survivors of reproductive age or professional caregivers. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for Qualitative Studies and the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies were used to assess the methodological quality. A standardised form based on the Cochrane guidelines for systematic reviews was used to extract the data. Two independent reviewers performed all methodological steps. Results: Of the 1872 papers found, 27 were included in this review. The majority (66-100%) of the cancer patients wanted information about the impact of cancer therapy on fertility. The need and importance were higher in younger and childless patients, and in patients having childbearing plans. The number of patients receiving this information ranged from 0% to 85%. Several factors were associated with the lack of information receipt, including female gender and age 35 years or older. Patients preferred information via an individual consultation. In the diagnostic phase patients needed information about the impact of the treatment on fertility and preservation options. At the end or after the treatment, information needs shifted towards long term effects. Professional caregivers experienced several barriers in providing fertility information, including caregiver-, patient-and institutional-related factors. Nurses in particular, perceived difficulty in providing fertility-related information due to

- by Dimitri Beeckman
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- Nursing, Fertility, Information Services, Caregivers

Purpose: To assess diarrhea-related knowledge, attitude and practice through successive educational interventions. Methods: This was an interventional study conducted at nine different locations of Morang district, Nepal from March 2010 to January 2011. Multistage random sampling approach was adopted to sample 630 subjects and they were randomly assigned to test and control groups. The subjects in the test group were provided an educational intervention designed on the basis of World Health Organization guidelines. Data collection followed by intervention was conducted at baseline, 1 month and 3 months; at 6 months, only data were taken without intervention. Results: About 90 % of the mothers were from the age group 16-30 years and most (93 %) of them were agricultural laborers. A majority (> 62%) of the mothers were not educated. Educational interventions brought about significant improvement in knowledge, attitude and practice at 1st, 2nd and 3rd follow-up. The median scores of knowledge, attitude and practice increased from 14, 7, 6 to 26, 9, 13, respectively, due to repeated interventions. Furthermore, interventions strengthened the correlation between knowledge, attitude and practice. Conclusion: Intervention was beneficial in improving mothers' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding diarrhea and its management.

- by Mukhtar Ansari
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- Physiology, Research Methodology, Behavior, Biology

Universal access to information for health professionals is a prerequisite for meeting the Millennium Development Goals and achieving Health for All. However, despite the promises of the information revolution, and some successful initiatives, there is little if any evidence that the majority of health professionals in the developing world are any better informed than they were 10 years ago. Lack of access to information remains a major barrier to knowledge-based health care in developing countries. The development of reliable, relevant, usable information can be represented as a system that requires cooperation among a wide range of professionals including health-care providers, policy makers, researchers, publishers, information professionals, indexers, and systematic reviewers. The system is not working because it is poorly understood, unmanaged, and under-resourced. This Public Health article proposes that WHO takes the lead in championing the goal of "Universal access to e...

- by Abel L Packer
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- Africa, Developing Countries, Access To Information, Information Services

Single point estimates of human health hazard/toxicity values such as a reference dose (RfD) are generally used in chemical hazard and risk assessment programs for assessing potential risks associated with site-or use-specific exposures. The resulting point estimates are often used by risk managers for regulatory decision-making, including standard setting, determination of emission controls, and mitigation of exposures to chemical substances. Risk managers, as well as stakeholders (interested and affected parties), often have limited information regarding assumptions and uncertainty factors in numerical estimates of both hazards and risks. Further, the use of different approaches for addressing uncertainty, which vary in transparency, can lead to a lack of confidence in the scientific underpinning of regulatory decision-making. The overarching goal of this paper, which was developed from an invited participant workshop, is to offer five approaches for presenting toxicity values in a transparent manner in order to improve the understanding, consideration, and informed use of uncertainty by risk assessors, risk managers, and stakeholders. The five approaches for improving the presentation and communication of uncertainty are described using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) as a case study. These approaches will ensure transparency in the documentation, development, and use of toxicity values at EPA, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and other similar

- by Ted Simon
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- Engineering, Decision Making, Risk assessment, Medicine

Background: Primary care physicians' ability to provide effective health behavior change advice might be leveraged by linking to available community resources. This study evaluates tools to facilitate such a link. Design: A mixed methods... more

- by Elizabeth Gordon
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- Primary Care, Education, Health Promotion, Primary Health Care

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an educational paradigm that promotes the development of highly valuable soft skills. PBL can be combined with other approaches, such as collaborative learning, to enhance students' team skills. Nucleo is a blended learning approach where students work in selfregulated teams. Nucleo combines Problem-Based Learning, collaborative learning, role-play game dynamics and a fantasy metaphor. In this paper we describe how the Moodle Learning Management System is being used to support the development of Nucleo learning scenarios in courses with a total of more than 300 students. The approach is implemented by combining built-in tools of the LMS and specific plug-ins. Plug-ins provide support for Vermunt's ILS (used to build the teams), for assigning roles in the teams or managing groups, among others. Although this work is focused on the Moodle platform, the paradigm can be repurposed and applied to different environments.

This paper examine the how Goa University Library marketing its information resources and services. The results of the study show that Goa University Library market its information resources and services using various strategies such as OPAC, orientation, websites, twitter, e-mail alerts, Facebook, and blogs. The results equally show that the most frequently used strategies for marketing library information resources and services is library OPAC, blog, orientation, Facebook and website. An appropriate marketing plans and programs to make the Goa University Library most effective, and long sustainable.

- by ajit faras
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- Marketing, Information Services, Promotion, Library Services

Influences on parents' fever management: beliefs, experiences and information sources Aim. To identify parents' knowledge, beliefs, management and sources of information about fever management. Background. Despite numerous studies exploring parents' management of childhood fever; negative beliefs about fever and overuse of antipyretics and health services for mild fevers and self-limiting viral illnesses continue to be reported. Design. Qualitative design using semi-structured interviews and discussions. Method. Fifteen metropolitan parents whose children were aged six months to five years, volunteered to participate in individual interviews or group discussions. Recruitment was through Playgroup Queensland's online newsletter and letters from two childcare centres to all parents. Verbatim and audio data were collected by an experienced moderator using a semi-structured interview guide. Data analysis: Two transcripts were independently analysed by two researchers; categories, subheadings and codes were independently developed, crosschecked and found comparable. Remaining transcripts were analysed using developed categories and codes. Results. Fever, determined through behavioural changes, was perceived as 'good', a warning that something was wrong. High fever, reported as 38AE0-39AE1°C, was considered harmful; it must be prevented or reduced irrespective of concerns about antipyretics. Positive febrile experiences reduced concern about fever. Negative experiences such as febrile convulsions, media reports of harm, not receiving a definitive diagnosis, inaccessibility to regular doctors and receiving conflicting information about fever management increased the concerns. Parents seek information about fever from multiple sources such as doctors, books and other parents.

- by Anne Walsh
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- Psychology, Nursing, Evidence Based Practice, Focus Groups
- by Richard Gun
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- Information Systems, Australia, Japan, Occupational Medicine

Background: Over two decades of research has been conducted using mobile devices for health related behaviors yet many of these studies lack rigor. There are few evaluation frameworks for assessing the usability of mHealth, which is critical as the use of this technology proliferates. As the development of interventions using mobile technology increase, future work in this domain necessitates the use of a rigorous usability evaluation framework. Methods: We used two exemplars to assess the appropriateness of the Health IT Usability Evaluation Model (Health-ITUEM) for evaluating the usability of mHealth technology. In the first exemplar, we conducted 6 focus group sessions to explore adolescents' use of mobile technology for meeting their health Information needs. In the second exemplar, we conducted 4 focus group sessions following an Ecological Momentary Assessment study in which 60 adolescents were given a smartphone with pre-installed health-related applications (apps). Data analysis: We coded the focus group data using the 9 concepts of the Health-ITUEM: Error prevention, Completeness, Memorability, Information needs, Flexibility/Customizability, Learnability, Performance speed, Competency, Other outcomes. To develop a finer granularity of analysis, the nine concepts were broken into positive, negative, and neutral codes. A total of 27 codes were created. Two raters (R1 and R2) initially coded all text and a third rater (R3) reconciled coding discordance between raters R1 and R2. Results: A total of 133 codes were applied to Exemplar 1. In Exemplar 2 there were a total of 286 codes applied to 195 excerpts. Performance speed, Other outcomes, and Information needs were among the most frequently occurring codes. Conclusion: Our two exemplars demonstrated the appropriateness and usefulness of the Health-ITUEM in evaluating mobile health technology. Further assessment of this framework with other study populations should consider whether Memorability and Error prevention are necessary to include when evaluating mHealth technology.

- by Rebecca Schnall
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- Usability, Focus Groups, Biomedical informatics, Telemedicine

Community Health Insurance (CHI) in Uganda faces low enrolment despite interest by the Ugandan health sector to have CHI as an elaborate health sector financing mechanism. User fees have been abolished in all government facilities and CHI in Uganda is limited to the private not for profit sub-sector, mainly church-related rural hospitals. In this study, the reasons for the low

- by Bart Criel
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- Community-Based Mental Health Services, Focus Groups, West Africa, East Africa

E-commerce's impact on real estate is just as significant and multifaceted as in other areas. Its momentum springs from two factors: an increasing population of online customers and increased involvement and investment from the real... more

- by Zhangxi Lin
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- Real Estate, Data Management, Information Services, It Professional

The importance of evidence in teaching and in support of clinical decisions is well established in health care, including dentistry. Defence of clinical decisions increasingly requires reliable data or evidence to support the stance taken. Assistance in finding the best evidence comes from a variety of sources, including computerised databases, journals, continuing education meetings, and study clubs. The randomised controlled trial heads the hierarchy of research designs on which evaluation of evidence is based; anecdotally based evidence and individual case studies are the least preferred study designs. Evaluation of a study requires a number of questions to be asked to determine how the study was performed, and whether it applies to a clinical situation. These questions relate to how the study was carried out, whether controls were used, were the results likely to be valid, and was statistical and clinical significance present. Quackery, pressure from consumers, and legal conside...

- by Karl Lyons
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- Information Systems, Dentistry, Research Design, Evidence Based Medicine

Recent federal policies and actions support the adoption of health information exchange (HIE) in order to improve healthcare by addressing fragmented personal health information. However, concerted efforts at facilitating HIE have existed for over two decades in this country. The lessons of these experiences include a recurrence of barriers and challenges beyond those associated with technology. Without new strategies, the current support and methods of facilitating HIE may not address these barriers.

- by Larry Gamm
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- Engineering, Electronic Health Records, Information Services, Program Development

Information technology (IT) projects are renowned for their high failure rate. Risk management is an essential process for the successful delivery of IT projects. In-depth interviews with IT professionals from leading firms in Western Australia were undertaken to determine how IT risks were managed in their projects. The respondents ranked 27 IT risks in terms of likelihood and consequences to identify the most important risks. The top five risks, in order, were: personnel shortfalls; unreasonable project schedule and budget; unrealistic expectations; incomplete requirements; and diminished window of opportunity due to late delivery of software. The respondents overwhelmingly applied the treatment strategy of risk reduction to manage these risks. Furthermore, these strategies were primarily project management processes, rather than technical processes. This demonstrates that project management is a risk management strategy. Scope, quality management, and human resource management were solutions applied to several risks. In particular, managing stakeholders' expectations is a specific risk treatment that helps to manage several key IT risks.

- by Duaa Jararwah
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- Information Systems, Information Technology, Quality Management, Project Management

Social media are playing an increasingly important role as information sources for travelers. The goal of this study is to investigate the extent to which social media appear in search engine results in the context of travel-related searches. The study employed a research design that simulates a traveler's use of a search engine for travel planning by using a set of pre-defined keywords in combination with nine U.S. tourist destination names. The analysis of the search results showed that social media constitute a substantial part of the search results, indicating that search engines likely direct travelers to social media sites. This study confirms the growing importance of social media in the online tourism domain. It also provides evidence for challenges faced by traditional providers of travel-related information. Implications for tourism marketers in terms of online marketing strategies are discussed.

- by Ulrike Gretzel
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- Marketing, Tourism Marketing, Tourism Management, Research Design

Papers in the Action Learning Program Dissemination Series are not formal publications of the World Bank. They are published informally by the Participation and Civic Engagement Group in the Social Development Department and circulated to... more

- by Pramesh Shah
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- Nutrition, Accounting, Health Care, Policy Analysis

High quality routine health system data is essential for tracking progress towards attainment of the Millennium Development Goals 4 & 5. This study aimed to determine the completeness and accuracy of transfer of routine maternal health service data at health facility, district and regional levels of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. A cross sectional study was conducted using secondary data comprised of routine health information data collected at facility level for the first quarter of 2012. Twelve health facilities were selected using a multistage sampling method. Data relating to antenatal care and delivery were assessed for completeness and accuracy of data transfer. Primary source data from health facility level (registers and record notebooks where health information data are initially entered) , used as the reference data, were counted, collated, and compared with aggregate data on aggregate forms compiled from these sources by health facility staff. The primary source data ...

- by Mary Amoakoh-Coleman and +1
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- Electronic Health Records, Ghana, Information Services, Cross Sectional Studies

As a new form of infrastructure is being developed across the vast prairie of Nebraska, electronic pioneers are leading the way to the information age. This paper describes-some of those pioneers and their work. The University of Nebraska has been among the leaders in developing the Internet and applications for it. The university established one of the first regional computer networks in the Midwest and developed a network of extension educators that now has Internet connections in 81 of the 93 Nebraska counties. The Nebraska State Department of Education has also been a pioneer, providing Internet training to teachers and funding for Internet access in schools. Today, about half of Nebraska school districts have direct Internet connections, with the remainder using modems for access. Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, which has provided educational television and radio for over 40 years, has created NebraskaNet, bringing together the electronic activities of state agencies, the University, schools, colleges, and communities in an Internet service that is easy to locate and navigate. In addition, three partner communities are working with NebraskaNet to pilot models of community connection to and "presence" on the Internet. An initiative of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development offers rural communities an organizational model and a basic strategic planning process that enable them to accelerate and capitalize on expanded access to information. A description of the experiences of three Nebraska communities provides a perspective on activities related to information technology occurring across the state. (SV)

- by Randall G Bretz
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- Higher Education, Telecommunications, Information Services, Rural Areas

We assessed online sexual health information quality and accuracy and the utility of web site quality indicators. In reviewing 177 sexual health web sites, we found below average quality but few inaccuracies. Web sites with the most technically complex information and/or controversial topics contained the most inaccuracies. We found no association between inaccurate information and web site quality.

- by Ellen Daley and +1
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- Education, Quality of Mental Health Care, Adolescent Health, Sexual Health
- by David Bawden
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- Information Systems, Economic History, Information Science, Documentation