Consumer Health Informatics: Is Every Patient Ready to Be Wired?
Consumer Health Informatics: Is Every Patient Ready to be Wired?
Carrie Taylor, RN
NUR 312A Nursing Informatics
20 September 2012
In healthcare today, great strides have been made to create technology that can aid patients and family members, as well as, the public at large in gathering health information, making personal health decisions and taking control of their options. As healthcare providers, it can be easy to believe that we should want the best for every patient, but the question becomes is every patient ready for “the best”? For those members of Generation X, Y and those that follow technology is not nearly as daunting and in many ways their willingness to adapt in an ever-changing technological environment makes them ideal test subjects for these same advancements. Additionally, the extent to which they benefit from technological advancements in consumer health informatics is debatable as the ability to accurately discern valuable versus valueless information becomes a challenge. On the other hand there are Baby Boomers and those that are older who may benefit the most from technological advances, but are resistant to learn and try new things relative to their unfamiliarity. The challenge for healthcare providers is to take what we know about healthcare informatics and technology and integrate it with an assessment of a patient’s readiness and willingness to embrace that technology. How do we offer our patient’s “the best” and help them keep moving forward? Finding a true and finite definition of consumer health informatics is formidable since the arena is ever expanding. The American Medical Informatics Association defines consumer health informatics as,
…the field devoted to informatics from multiple consumer or patient views. These include patient-focused informatics, health literacy and consumer education. The focus is on information structures and processes that empower consumers to manage their own health--for example health
Carrie Taylor, RN
NUR 312A Nursing Informatics
20 September 2012
In healthcare today, great strides have been made to create technology that can aid patients and family members, as well as, the public at large in gathering health information, making personal health decisions and taking control of their options. As healthcare providers, it can be easy to believe that we should want the best for every patient, but the question becomes is every patient ready for “the best”? For those members of Generation X, Y and those that follow technology is not nearly as daunting and in many ways their willingness to adapt in an ever-changing technological environment makes them ideal test subjects for these same advancements. Additionally, the extent to which they benefit from technological advancements in consumer health informatics is debatable as the ability to accurately discern valuable versus valueless information becomes a challenge. On the other hand there are Baby Boomers and those that are older who may benefit the most from technological advances, but are resistant to learn and try new things relative to their unfamiliarity. The challenge for healthcare providers is to take what we know about healthcare informatics and technology and integrate it with an assessment of a patient’s readiness and willingness to embrace that technology. How do we offer our patient’s “the best” and help them keep moving forward? Finding a true and finite definition of consumer health informatics is formidable since the arena is ever expanding. The American Medical Informatics Association defines consumer health informatics as,
…the field devoted to informatics from multiple consumer or patient views. These include patient-focused informatics, health literacy and consumer education. The focus is on information structures and processes that empower consumers to manage their own health--for example health
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