Older adult’s perceptions of usefulness of personal health records
Venue
Universal Access in the Information Society (2012)
Publication Year
2012
Authors
Margaux M. Price, Richard Pak, Hendrik Müller, Aideen Stronge
BibTeX
Abstract
Electronic personal health records (PHRs) have the potential to both make health
information more accessible to patients and function as a decision-support system
for patients managing chronic conditions. Age-related changes in cognition may make
traditional strategies of integrating and understanding existing (i.e.,
paper-based) health information more difficult for older adults. The centralized
and integrated nature of health information, as well as the long-term tracking
capabilities present in many PHRs, may be especially beneficial for older patients’
management of health. However, older adults tend to be late adopters of technology
and may be hesitant to adopt a PHR if the benefits are not made clear (perceived
usefulness). Toward the design of a useful PHR, a needs analysis was conducted to
determine how people currently manage their health information, what they perceive
as useful, and to identify any unmet needs. This paper describes two qualitative
studies examining the health information needs of both younger and older adults.
The first study used a 2-week diary methodology to examine everyday health
questions or concerns, while the second study examined maintenance of health
information and perceptions of PHRs through the use of a three-part interview.
User’s perceptions of the usefulness of PHRs are provided as recommendations for
the design of e-health technology, especially those targeted for older adult
healthcare consumers. The results suggest that both older and younger adults would
deem a PHR useful if it provides memory support in the form of reminders, provides
tools to aid in comprehension of one’s health concerns, is interactive and provides
automatic functions, and is highly accessible to authorized users, yet one’s
information is kept secure and private.
