Elizabeth S. Guy

...real, concrete facts about what works...: integrating evaluation and design through patterns

Recent CSCW research has focused on methods for evaluating usability, rather than the more problematic evaluation of systems in use. A possible approach to the integration of use, design and evaluation is through the representation of evaluation findings as design-oriented models. A method is described for modeling computer-supported cooperative work and its context: a design patterns language, based on the principles of activity theory. The language is the outcome of an evaluation of the evolving use of tools to support collaborative information sharing, carried out at a global NGO.

Information to fight the flab: findings from the Net.Weight Study

The purpose of the paper is to examine information use and information literacy in the context of weight management. It reports on a two-year study funded by the Department of Health known informally as the Net.Weight Study. Net.Weight examined the potential for increased, innovative and effective uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support the self management of weight. The research was conducted in the city of Brighton & Hove by an inter-disciplinary team from the University of Brighton. The paper gives a brief overview of the various methods used in the study as a whole but discusses one strand, the user survey, in more detail. The survey gathered data on people’s information and ICT use around weight management. The design of the survey questionnaire required the adaptation of existing literacy assessment instruments and this process is described in this paper. The findings show that people use a wide range of information sources for information and support around weight management. The most useful sources are slimming groups, food packaging, friends and family, magazines, TV and health books, thus representing a variety of media, formal and informal, and including human sources. The internet was reported to be a useful source for around half the survey respondents and is most often used for information about diet and exercise. A majority of respondents described themselves as active information seekers and confident about their information skills. They are less confident about internet information than information generally and even less confident about using the internet to support weight management activities. The concept of literacies, particularly around information and health, provide a framework for examining the Net.Weight findings. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for health information policy and for those interested in applying information literacy theory to health. The role of healthcare practitioners in weight management information is addressed, as is the need for targeted rather than generic health information. It is suggested that the work done in the education sector to increase awareness of information literacy and improve skills could provide a useful model of good practice in a health context. However, the evidence provided by the Net.Weight study suggests that for such an approach to be relevant it needs to reflect the complexity of health information processes in everyday lives.

Information and Health Literacy in the Balance: Findings from a Study Exploring the Use of ICTs in Weight Management

This article uses findings from a UK Department of Health funded research study known as Net.Weight to reflect on the concept of information literacy as it relates to consumer health. It explores how the results support and develop an understanding of information and health literacy and it offers recommendations for policy and practice. The study was located in the city of Brighton & Hove and examined the potential for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support people who were self-managing their weight. The research comprised five interlocking components, at the heart of which was a series of participatory learning workshops designed to develop participant skills in relation to ICTs, information, and health literacy. The results indicate that a broader and more social understanding of information literacy is needed to ensure a better “fit” between the provision and use of health information. They also indicate that ICTs can augment information provision and support activities, but that a “blended” approach is necessary, where online and “real world” communication work in tandem.

Working (IT) out together: engaging the community in e-health developments for obesity management

In this chapter, we combine sociological research on the ‘e-society’ and the ‘new public health’, to offer a critique of ‘e-health discourse’. Central to this discourse is the association of greater availability of information and information and communication technologies (ICTs) with notions of patient empowerment and the ability to engage more actively in self care. Drawing on an action-oriented research project exploring and intervening in the lived experience of those seeking to manage their weight, we employ a Foucauldian notion of discourse and of knowledge/power to reflect upon the sociotechnical configurations that constitute self care in the context of obesity management.

In the Balance: Report of a Research Study Exploring Information for Weight Management

Abstract This paper uses findings from a research study called Net.Weight to examine the concepts of interaction, information quality and Internet-based information from the perspective of people engaged in managing their weight. The Net.Weight study was a two-year project funded by the British governments Department of Health and located in the city of Brighton and Hove. It examined the potential for increased, innovative and effective uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support the self management of weight. The study had several inter-related research strands and the findings discussed in the paper emerged primarily from participatory learning workshops and evaluative interviews. The paper demonstrates that the interaction between people is an important aspect of the information process, which is often neglected in the literature. It suggests that exploring the user-user dimension might add to the understanding of information effectiveness. It also suggests that an approach to information and health literacy which includes a social as well as an individual perspective is necessary. On quality assessment, it supports findings from other studies that organisational authority is a key measure of reliability for lay users and that quality assessment tools have a limited role in the assessment process. The Net.Weight participants embraced the Internet as a medium for weight management information only when it added value to their existing information and weight management practices and when it could be integrated into their everyday lives.