scholarly journals Mhealth

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 61-62
Author(s):  
Jeannette Herrle

Web-based applications (email, websites, portals) have long been the favoured digital modality for interacting with the public in health care, in part because they enable institutional control of the flow of health data. But today, smartphones are becoming the default portal in many people’s daily lives. Their presence is increasingly felt in health care, whether as a means of connecting patients with practitioners or satisfying a desire for instant access to health information.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeyoung Hah

BACKGROUND As the US health care system is embracing data-driven care, personal health information (PHI) has become a valuable resource for various health care stakeholders. In particularly, health consumers are expected to autonomously manage and share PHI with their health care partners. To date, there have been mixed views on the factors influencing individuals’ health data–sharing behaviors. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify a key factor to better understand health information sharing behavior from a health consumer’s perspective. We focused on daily settings, wherein health data–sharing behavior becomes a part of individuals’ daily information management activities. Considering the similarity between health and finance information management, we explicitly examined whether health consumers’ daily habit of similar data sharing from the financial domain affects their PHI-sharing behaviors in various scenarios. METHODS A Web-based survey was administered to US health consumers who have access to and experience in using the internet. We collected individual health consumers’ intention to share PHI under varying contexts, habit of financial information management (operationalized as internet banking [IB] use in this paper), and the demographic information from the cross-sectional Web-based survey. To isolate the effect of daily IB on PHI-sharing behaviors in everyday contexts, propensity score matching was used to estimate the average treatment effect (ATE) and average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) regarding IB use. We balanced the treatment and control groups using caliper matching based on the observed confounding variables (ie, gender, income, health status, and access to primary care provider), all of which resulted in a minimal level of bias between unmatched and matched samples (bias &lt;5%). RESULTS A total of 339 responses were obtained from a cross-sectional Web-based survey. The ATET results showed that in terms of sharing contents, those who used IB daily were more likely to share general information (<italic>P</italic>=.01), current information (<italic>P</italic>=.003), and entire data (<italic>P</italic>=.04). Regarding occasions for sharing occasions, IB users were prone to share their information in all cases (<italic>P</italic>=.02). With regard to sharing recipients, daily IB users were more willing to share their personal health data with stakeholders who were not directly involved in their care, such as health administrators (<italic>P</italic>=.05). These results were qualitatively similar to the ATE results. CONCLUSIONS This study examined whether daily management of similar information (ie, personal financial information) changes health consumers’ PHI-sharing behavior under varying sharing conditions. We demonstrated that daily financial information management can encourage health information sharing to a much broader extent, in several instances, and with many stakeholders. We call for more attention to this unobserved daily habit driven by the use of various nonhealth technologies, all of which can implicitly affect patterns and the extent of individuals’ PHI-sharing behaviors.


10.2196/16145 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e16145
Author(s):  
Amy Lynn Wright ◽  
Rachel VanEvery ◽  
Vicky Miller

Background Web-based sources of health information are widely used by parents to support healthy parenting and aid in decision making about their infants’ health. Although fraught with challenges such as misinformation, if used appropriately, web-based resources can improve access to health education and promote healthy choices. How Indigenous mothers use web-based information to support their parenting and infants’ health has not yet been investigated; however, web-based modalities may be important methods for mitigating the reduced access to health care and negative health care interactions that many Indigenous people are known to experience. Objective This study aims to understand the experience of Indigenous mothers who use web-based information to support the health of their infants. Methods This interpretive description qualitative study used semistructured interviews and a discussion group to understand how Indigenous mothers living in Hamilton, Ontario and caring for an infant aged <2 years experienced meeting the health needs of their infants. The data presented reflect their experiences of using web-based sources of health information to support their infants’ health. The Two-Eyed Seeing approach was applied to the study design, which ensured that both western and Indigenous worldviews were considered throughout. Results A total of 19 Indigenous mothers participated in this study. The resulting 4 themes included distrusting information, staying anonymous, using visual information to support decision making, and accessing a world of experiences. Although fewer Indigenous mothers used web-based sources of information compared to mothers in the general population in other studies, tailoring web-based modalities to meet the unique needs of Indigenous mothers is an important opportunity for supporting the health and wellness of both mothers and infants. Conclusions Web-based information sources are commonly used among parents, and ever-evolving web-based technologies make this information increasingly available and accessible. Tailoring web-based modalities to meet the unique preferences and needs of Indigenous mothers is an important method for improving their access to reliable and accurate health care information, thereby supporting healthy parenting and promoting infant health.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Braunack-Mayer ◽  
Belinda Fabrianesi ◽  
Jackie Street ◽  
Pauline O'Shaughnessy ◽  
Stacy M Carter ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The use of government health data for secondary purposes, such as monitoring the quality of hospital services, researching the health needs of populations, and testing how well new treatments work, is increasing. This increase in the secondary uses of health data has led to increased interest in what the public thinks about data sharing, in particular, the possibilities of sharing with the private sector for research and development. Although international evidence demonstrates broad public support for the secondary use of health data, this support does not extend to sharing health data with the private sector. If governments intend to share health data with the private sector, knowing what the public thinks will be important. This paper reports a national survey to explore public attitudes in Australia toward sharing health data with private companies for research on and development of therapeutic drugs and medical devices. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore public attitudes in Australia toward sharing government health data with the private sector. METHODS A web-based survey tool was developed to assess attitudes about sharing government health data with the private sector. A market research company was employed to administer the web-based survey in June 2019. RESULTS The survey was completed by 2537 individuals residing in Australia. Between 51.8% and 57.98% of all participants were willing to share their data, with slightly fewer in favor of sharing to improve health services (51.99%) and a slightly higher proportion in favor of sharing for research and development (57.98%). There was a preference for opt-in consent (53.44%) and broad support for placing conditions on sharing health information with private companies (62% to 91.99%). Wide variability was also observed in participants’ views about the extent to which the private sector could be trusted and how well they would behave if entrusted with people’s health information. In their qualitative responses, the participants noted concerns about private sector corporate interests, corruption, and profit making and expressed doubt about the Australian government’s capacity to manage data sharing safely. The percentages presented are adjusted against the Australian population. CONCLUSIONS This nationally representative survey provides preliminary evidence that Australians are uncertain about sharing their health data with the private sector. Although just over half of all the respondents supported sharing health data with the private sector, there was also strong support for strict conditions on sharing data and for opt-in consent and significant concerns about how well the private sector would manage government health data. Addressing public concern about sharing government health data with the private sector will require more and better engagement to build community understanding about how agencies can collect, share, protect, and use their personal data.


10.2196/15585 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. e15585
Author(s):  
Hyeyoung Hah

Background As the US health care system is embracing data-driven care, personal health information (PHI) has become a valuable resource for various health care stakeholders. In particularly, health consumers are expected to autonomously manage and share PHI with their health care partners. To date, there have been mixed views on the factors influencing individuals’ health data–sharing behaviors. Objective This study aimed to identify a key factor to better understand health information sharing behavior from a health consumer’s perspective. We focused on daily settings, wherein health data–sharing behavior becomes a part of individuals’ daily information management activities. Considering the similarity between health and finance information management, we explicitly examined whether health consumers’ daily habit of similar data sharing from the financial domain affects their PHI-sharing behaviors in various scenarios. Methods A Web-based survey was administered to US health consumers who have access to and experience in using the internet. We collected individual health consumers’ intention to share PHI under varying contexts, habit of financial information management (operationalized as internet banking [IB] use in this paper), and the demographic information from the cross-sectional Web-based survey. To isolate the effect of daily IB on PHI-sharing behaviors in everyday contexts, propensity score matching was used to estimate the average treatment effect (ATE) and average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) regarding IB use. We balanced the treatment and control groups using caliper matching based on the observed confounding variables (ie, gender, income, health status, and access to primary care provider), all of which resulted in a minimal level of bias between unmatched and matched samples (bias <5%). Results A total of 339 responses were obtained from a cross-sectional Web-based survey. The ATET results showed that in terms of sharing contents, those who used IB daily were more likely to share general information (P=.01), current information (P=.003), and entire data (P=.04). Regarding occasions for sharing occasions, IB users were prone to share their information in all cases (P=.02). With regard to sharing recipients, daily IB users were more willing to share their personal health data with stakeholders who were not directly involved in their care, such as health administrators (P=.05). These results were qualitatively similar to the ATE results. Conclusions This study examined whether daily management of similar information (ie, personal financial information) changes health consumers’ PHI-sharing behavior under varying sharing conditions. We demonstrated that daily financial information management can encourage health information sharing to a much broader extent, in several instances, and with many stakeholders. We call for more attention to this unobserved daily habit driven by the use of various nonhealth technologies, all of which can implicitly affect patterns and the extent of individuals’ PHI-sharing behaviors.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Lynn Wright ◽  
Rachel VanEvery ◽  
Vicky Miller

BACKGROUND Web-based sources of health information are widely used by parents to support healthy parenting and aid in decision making about their infants’ health. Although fraught with challenges such as misinformation, if used appropriately, web-based resources can improve access to health education and promote healthy choices. How Indigenous mothers use web-based information to support their parenting and infants’ health has not yet been investigated; however, web-based modalities may be important methods for mitigating the reduced access to health care and negative health care interactions that many Indigenous people are known to experience. OBJECTIVE This study aims to understand the experience of Indigenous mothers who use web-based information to support the health of their infants. METHODS This interpretive description qualitative study used semistructured interviews and a discussion group to understand how Indigenous mothers living in Hamilton, Ontario and caring for an infant aged &lt;2 years experienced meeting the health needs of their infants. The data presented reflect their experiences of using web-based sources of health information to support their infants’ health. The Two-Eyed Seeing approach was applied to the study design, which ensured that both western and Indigenous worldviews were considered throughout. RESULTS A total of 19 Indigenous mothers participated in this study. The resulting 4 themes included distrusting information, staying anonymous, using visual information to support decision making, and accessing a world of experiences. Although fewer Indigenous mothers used web-based sources of information compared to mothers in the general population in other studies, tailoring web-based modalities to meet the unique needs of Indigenous mothers is an important opportunity for supporting the health and wellness of both mothers and infants. CONCLUSIONS Web-based information sources are commonly used among parents, and ever-evolving web-based technologies make this information increasingly available and accessible. Tailoring web-based modalities to meet the unique preferences and needs of Indigenous mothers is an important method for improving their access to reliable and accurate health care information, thereby supporting healthy parenting and promoting infant health. CLINICALTRIAL


10.2196/24200 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. e24200
Author(s):  
Annette Braunack-Mayer ◽  
Belinda Fabrianesi ◽  
Jackie Street ◽  
Pauline O'Shaughnessy ◽  
Stacy M Carter ◽  
...  

Background The use of government health data for secondary purposes, such as monitoring the quality of hospital services, researching the health needs of populations, and testing how well new treatments work, is increasing. This increase in the secondary uses of health data has led to increased interest in what the public thinks about data sharing, in particular, the possibilities of sharing with the private sector for research and development. Although international evidence demonstrates broad public support for the secondary use of health data, this support does not extend to sharing health data with the private sector. If governments intend to share health data with the private sector, knowing what the public thinks will be important. This paper reports a national survey to explore public attitudes in Australia toward sharing health data with private companies for research on and development of therapeutic drugs and medical devices. Objective This study aims to explore public attitudes in Australia toward sharing government health data with the private sector. Methods A web-based survey tool was developed to assess attitudes about sharing government health data with the private sector. A market research company was employed to administer the web-based survey in June 2019. Results The survey was completed by 2537 individuals residing in Australia. Between 51.8% and 57.98% of all participants were willing to share their data, with slightly fewer in favor of sharing to improve health services (51.99%) and a slightly higher proportion in favor of sharing for research and development (57.98%). There was a preference for opt-in consent (53.44%) and broad support for placing conditions on sharing health information with private companies (62% to 91.99%). Wide variability was also observed in participants’ views about the extent to which the private sector could be trusted and how well they would behave if entrusted with people’s health information. In their qualitative responses, the participants noted concerns about private sector corporate interests, corruption, and profit making and expressed doubt about the Australian government’s capacity to manage data sharing safely. The percentages presented are adjusted against the Australian population. Conclusions This nationally representative survey provides preliminary evidence that Australians are uncertain about sharing their health data with the private sector. Although just over half of all the respondents supported sharing health data with the private sector, there was also strong support for strict conditions on sharing data and for opt-in consent and significant concerns about how well the private sector would manage government health data. Addressing public concern about sharing government health data with the private sector will require more and better engagement to build community understanding about how agencies can collect, share, protect, and use their personal data.


Author(s):  
Beniamino Schiavone ◽  
Andrea Vitale ◽  
Mena Gallo ◽  
Gianlucasalvatore Russo ◽  
Domenico Ponticelli ◽  
...  

Background: Facebook is the most popular social network across the world and also allows users access to health information. Our study presents an overview of the official Facebook profiles of hospitals in Italy (n = 1351) and how much they are used. Methods: All hospitals were surveyed on the number of Facebook posts in May (post-lockdown) and October (second pandemic wave) 2020. The number of followers, the creation date of the official page, and the frequency of publication—that is, the average number of days between two subsequent posts—were determined. Results: In Italy, only 28% (n = 379) of the hospitals had official Facebook pages, of which 20.6% (n = 78) were public hospitals, and 79.4% (n = 301) were private hospitals. Of the hospitals with Facebook pages, 49.1% used them every week, and public hospitals published more often. Conclusions: Despite the differences between regions and types of management, the number of hospitals in Italy that use Facebook as a tool for the public dissemination of health information is still low. Hospitals should adopt an effective communication strategy using social networks to improve the quality of health care.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Gesser-Edelsburg ◽  
Nour Abed Elhadi Shahbari ◽  
Ricky Cohen ◽  
Adva Mir Halavi ◽  
Rana Hijazi ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND In the new media age, the public searches for information both online and offline. Many studies have examined how the public reads and understands this information but very few investigate how people assess the quality of journalistic articles as opposed to information generated by health professionals. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine how public health care workers (HCWs) and the general public seek, read, and understand health information and to investigate the criteria by which they assess the quality of journalistic articles. METHODS A Web-based nonprobability sampling questionnaire survey was distributed to Israeli HCWs and members of the public via 3 social media outlets: Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. A total of 979 respondents participated in the online survey via the Qualtrics XM platform. RESULTS The findings indicate that HCWs find academic articles more reliable than do members of the general public (44.4% and 28.4%, respectively, P<.001). Within each group, we found disparities between the places where people search for information and the sources they consider reliable. HCWs consider academic articles to be the most reliable, yet these are not their main information sources. In addition, HCWs often use social networks to search for information (18.2%, P<.001), despite considering them very unreliable (only 2.2% found them reliable, P<.001). The same paradoxes were found among the general public, where 37.5% (P<.001) seek information via social networks yet only 8.4% (P<.001) find them reliable. Out of 6 quality criteria, 4 were important both to HCWs and to the general public. CONCLUSIONS In the new media age where information is accessible to all, the quality of articles about health is of critical importance. It is important that the criteria examined in this research become the norm in health writing for all stakeholders who write about health, whether they are professional journalists or citizen journalists writing in the new media.


Author(s):  
Simon Y. Liu,

Consumers, industry, and government have recently focused attention on the potential of personal health records to empower patients in the health care process, improve patient-provider relationships, facilitate patient access to health information, and improve the quality of health care. A Personal Health Record (PHR) is a private and secure digital record that is created, managed, and owned by an individual, and contains the owner’s relevant health information. The benefits of PHRs have not yet been widely realized due to several significant challenges in their adoption, including the need for privacy, security, and interoperability, and the lack of accepted standards. Although many players in the healthcare arena are beginning to offer partial solutions, none have adequately addressed the full range of challenges. The adoption of PHRs can be significantly accelerated by the development of Open Source software that enables an individual to collect, create, organize, and manage his or her own private and secure PHR, using a standardized format and controlled vocabulary.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Hugh Mellon

Over the past two decades there have been numerous highly charged court cases involving claims that government program offerings and public spending fail to satisfy guarantees entrenched in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.1 Calls for enhanced appeal mechanism in refugee determination,2 provincial health care coverage of hospital translation services for the deaf,3 equal leave provisions4 for both adoptive and birth parents, government coverage of autism treatment regimes,5 and access to health care provision rather than access to a waiting list6 all illustrate the intersection of the Charter with the allocation of the public purse.


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