Aisling Ann O'Kane

Gaining empathy for non-routine mobile device use through autoethnography

In this paper, we report on autoethnography as a method to access non-routine usage of mobile devices, such as during business trips, vacations, etc. Autoethnography, a self-study method with the researcher as participant, was employed for the evaluation of a wrist blood pressure monitor used by people with conditions such as hypertension. The findings from the study were surprising, especially with respect to the environmental and social impact on the use of the technology. Although the autoethnographic method can be disruptive for the researcher, it enables them to understand and empathize with the experiences mobile device users can face in difficult to access contexts. This method allows HCI researchers to better understand user experiences with mobile devices, including mobile medical technology, especially during non-routine times that can be difficult to study in-situ with traditional user studies.

Concealing or Revealing Mobile Medical Devices?: Designing for Onstage and Offstage Presentation

Adults with Type 1 Diabetes have choices regarding the technology they use to self-manage their chronic condition. They can use glucose meters, insulin pumps, smartphone apps, and other technologies to support their everyday care. However, little is known about how their social lives might influence what they adopt or how they use technologies. A multi-method study was conducted to examine contextual factors that influence their technology use. While individual differences play a large role in everyday use, social factors were also found to influence use. For example, people can hide their devices in uncertain social situations or show them off to achieve a purpose. We frame these social behaviours using Goffmans theatre metaphor of onstage and offstage behaviour, and discuss how this kind of analysis can inform the design of future mobile medical devices for self-management of chronic conditions.

Contextual Influences on the Use and Non-Use of Digital Technology While Exercising at the Gym

The use of wearable technology will become significantly more prevalent in the coming years, with major companies releasing devices such as the Samsung Gear Fit. With sensors, such as pedometers and heart rate monitors, embedded in these devices it is possible to use them for fitness purposes. However, little is known about how wearable adopters actually use wearable and existing technologies during exercise. In an exploratory situated study of technology use and non-use in the context of the gym, fitness informatics adopters showed varied practices related to distraction, appropriating technology into their routines, and information needs. We discuss this variance in relation to individual differences and the impact of the physical nature of the gym. Although further research might show other influencing factors such as the social context, we make a case for the use of situated studies to uncover tensions that lead to use and non-use of technology that arise in the different unfolding situations of using wearables in everyday life, including at the gym, which is a surprisingly complex context.

Strategies for conducting situated studies of technology use in hospitals

Ethnographic methods are widely used for understanding situated practices with technology. When authors present their data gathering methods, they almost invariably focus on the bare essentials. These enable the reader to comprehend what was done, but leave the impression that setting up and conducting the study was straightforward. Text books present generic advice, but rarely focus on specific study contexts. In this paper, we focus on lessons learnt by non-clinical researchers studying technology use in hospitals: gaining access; developing good relations with clinicians and patients; being outsiders in healthcare settings; and managing the cultural divide between technology human factors and clinical practice. Drawing on case studies across various hospital settings, we present a repertoire of ways of working with people and technologies in these settings. These include engaging clinicians and patients effectively, taking an iterative approach to data gathering and being responsive to the demands and opportunities provided by the situation. The main contribution of this paper is to make visible many of the lessons we have learnt in conducting technology studies in healthcare, using these lessons to present strategies that other researchers can take up.

Non-static nature of patient consent: shifting privacy perspectives in health information sharing

The purpose of the study is to explore how chronically ill patients and their specialized care network have viewed their personal medical information privacy and how it has impacted their perspectives of sharing their records with their network of healthcare providers and secondary use organizations. Diabetes patients and specialized diabetes medical care providers in Eastern England were interviewed about their sharing of medical information and their privacy concerns to inform a descriptive qualitative and exploratory thematic analysis. From the interview data, we see that diabetes patients shift their perceived privacy concerns and needs throughout their lifetime due to persistence of health data, changes in health, technology advances, and experience with technology that affect ones consent decisions. From these findings, we begin to take a translational research approach in critically examining current privacy enhancing technologies for secondary use consent management and motivate the further exploration of both temporally-sensitive privacy perspectives and new options in consent management that support shifting privacy concerns over ones lifetime.

Sharing medical data vs. health knowledge in chronic illness care

Chronic illnesses are becoming more prevalent worldwide breeding an interest in supporting patient care through electronic health information exchange. Through a study of diabetes patients and the specialists in their care network, the challenges involved in sharing health information from the two perspectives become apparent. There are opportunities in the design of electronic medical information exchange to support the patients need for knowledge and specialists need for data, bridging the gap that can lead to tensions and inefficiencies in the management of illness trajectories.

Fieldwork for Healthcare: Guidance for Investigating Human Factors in Computing Systems

Conducting fieldwork for investigating technology use in healthcare is a challenging undertaking, and yet there is little in the way of community support and guidance for conducting these studies. There is a need for better knowledge sharing and resources to facilitate learning. This is the second of two volumes designed as a collective graduate guidebook for conducting fieldwork in healthcare. This volume brings together thematic chapters that draw out issues and lessons learned from practical experience. Researchers who have first-hand experience of conducting healthcare fieldwork collaborated to write these chapters. This volume contains insights, tips, and tricks from studies in clinical and non-clinical environments, from hospital to home. This volume starts with an introduction to the ethics and governance procedures a researcher might encounter when conducting fieldwork in this sensitive study area. Subsequent chapters address specific aspects of conducting situated healthcare esearch. Chapters on readying the researcher and relationships in the medical domain break down some of the complex social aspects of this type of research. They are followed by chapters on the practicalities of collecting data and implementing interventions, which focus on domain-specific issues that may arise. Finally, we close the volume by discussing the management of impact in healthcare fieldwork. The guidance contained in these chapters enables new researchers to form their project plans and also their contingency plans in this complex and challenging domain. For more experienced researchers, it offers advice and support through familiar stories and experiences. For supervisors and teachers, it offers a source of reference and debate. Together with the first volume, Fieldwork for Healthcare: Case Studies Investigating Human Factors in Computing systems, these books provide a substantive resource on how to conduct fieldwork in healthcare. Table of Contents: Preface / Acknowledgm nts / Ethics, Governance, and Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare / Readying the Researcher for Fieldwork in Healthcare / Establishing and Maintaining Relationships in Healthcare Fields / Practicalities of Data Collection in Healthcare Fieldwork / Healthcare Intervention Studies “In the Wild” / Impact of Fieldwork in Healthcare: Understanding Impact on Researchers, Research, Practice, and Beyond / References / Biographies

Turning to Peers: Integrating Understanding of the Self, the Condition, and Others' Experiences in Making Sense of Complex Chronic Conditions

People are increasingly involved in the self-management of their own health, including chronic conditions. With technology advances, the choice of self-management practices, tools, and technologies has never been greater. The studies reported here investigated the information seeking practices of two different chronic health populations in their quest to manage their health conditions. Migraine and diabetes patients and clinicians in the UK and the US were interviewed about their information needs and practices, and representative online communities were explored to inform a qualitative study. We found that people with either chronic condition require personally relevant information and use a broad and varied set of practices and tools to make sense of their specific symptoms, triggers, and treatments. Participants sought out different types of information from varied sources about themselves, their medical condition, and their peers’ experiences of the same chronic condition. People with diabetes and migraine expended great effort to validate their personal experiences of their condition and determine whether these experiences were ‘normal’. Based on these findings, we discuss the need for future personal health technologies that support people in engaging in meaningful and personalised data collection, information seeking, and information sharing with peers in flexible ways that enable them to better understand their own condition.

HCI fieldwork in healthcare: creating a graduate guidebook

The Institute of Medicine 2000 report To Err is Human raised concerns about patient safety worldwide: there is increasing pressure for safe, efficient and effective healthcare along with a drive to innovate and improve patient experience. As a consequence, the design and evaluation of medical technology in context is becoming more widespread in HCI and related disciplines. Whilst research results are reported in papers, the details of how to actually perform fieldwork studies in these challenging environments are not. This CHI 2013 workshop will bring together researchers from diverse backgrounds to share experiences and expertise in carrying out healthcare fieldwork in both clinical and non-clinical settings: across hospitals, homecare environments and on the move when using mobile healthcare technology. We aim to create a graduate guidebook for HCI fieldwork in healthcare for current and future generations of researchers.

Workshop abstract: HCI research in healthcare: using theory from evidence to practice

Theory has an important place in HCI research in healthcare. However, resources on this area are spread across different multidisciplinary journals. It is timely for the community to reflect on the classic, modern, and contemporary theories they use, to map where strengths and weaknesses lie, and where emerging opportunities are unfolding. This workshop aims to encourage dialogue and exchange of ideas with examples of current and emerging theory in HCI and healthcare to support researchers and practitioners as they address the challenges and opportunities of this domain. We aim to produce a journal special issue to map the state of the art in this area.