Health Information Seeking Behavior of Library Information Science Students

A pilot study using mixed methods to analyze the online Health Information Seeking Behavior (HISB) of LIS students at a small Midwestern University was conducted to establish the feasibility of investigating the online HISB of LIS students in a larger future study. The project sought to answer the following research questions: (1) what health information topics do library and information science students seek when they search online, (2) how do students find online health information, (3) what do they do with this information, and (4) what attributes of health-related Web pages do Library and Information Science students use when making credibility judgments about this information? The top five health topics of interest to LIS students are a specific disease or medical condition (94%), a certain medical treatment or procedure (71%), exercise or fitness (67%), a particular doctor, clinic, or hospital (54%), and depression, anxiety, stress, or mental health issues (50%). LIS students find online health information by search engine (75%), specific site like WebMD (52%), general site like Wikipedia (14%), social media site like Facebook (12%), journal database (10%), and online health encyclopedia/reference sources (4%). LIS students reported the following reasons for seeking online health information: personal health concerns (47.6%), healthy life style (28.2%), for a family or friend (21.4%), and curiosity or research (2.9%). In the quantitative survey, LIS students reported the mean reliability of online health information as 4.6 out of 7, indicating they have a high level regard for the reliability of online health information. However, interview results indicate that LIS students are generally skeptical of the health information they find online and that they choose to verify findings by checking out additional sources for confirmation. In addition, LIS students are highly influenced by information in the peripheral cue when making credibility judgments about online health information

Health information services and the changing paradigm of information science

In the present work, developed within the disciplinary field of information science, we introduce what some contemporaneous authors define as the new paradigm called post-custodial, informational and scientific paradigm, which conveys a holistic view of information and has a direct effect on the organization of services. Then, we present a brief overview of studies on health information services and we show the major conclusions of a study of the information services in the hospitals of the Portuguese National Health Service, conducted in the past five years in order to know their organization and operation. Taking the mentioned paradigm as the theoretical-epistemological reference of our work, and based on the findings obtained in this study, we propose a model for the (re)organization of information services in the hospital context, considering the integrated, systemic and dynamic vision of the informatio

Towards Convergence: How to Do Transdisciplinary Environmental Health Disparities Research.

Increasingly, funders (i.e., national, public funders, such as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation in the U.S.) and scholars agree that single disciplines are ill equipped to study the pressing social, health, and environmental problems we face alone, particularly environmental exposures, increasing health disparities, and climate change. To better understand these pressing social problems, funders and scholars have advocated for transdisciplinary approaches in order to harness the analytical power of diverse and multiple disciplines to tackle these problems and improve our understanding. However, few studies look into how to conduct such research. To this end, this article provides a review of transdisciplinary science, particularly as it relates to environmental research and public health. To further the field, this article provides in-depth information on how to conduct transdisciplinary research. Using the case of a transdisciplinary, community-based, participatory action, environmental health disparities study in California's Central Valley provides an in-depth look at how to do transdisciplinary research. Working with researchers from the fields of social sciences, public health, biological engineering, and land, air, and water resources, this study aims to answer community residents' questions related to the health disparities they face due to environmental exposure. Through this case study, I articulate not only the logistics of how to conduct transdisciplinary research but also the logics. The implications for transdisciplinary methodologies in health disparity research are further discussed, particularly in the context of team science and convergence science

Data analytics based positioning of health informatics programs

The Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (CIS) with concentration in Health Informatics (HI) at Metropolitan College (MET), Boston University (BU), is a 40-credit degree program that are delivered in three formats: face-to-face, online, and blended. The MET CIS-HI program is unique because of the population of students it serves, namely those interested in gaining skills in HI technology field, to serve as data analysts and knowledge-based technology drivers in the thriving health care industry. This set of skills is essential for addressing the challenges of Big Data and knowledge-based health care support of the modern health care. The MET CIS-HI program was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) in 2017

A Future of Failure? The Flow of Technology Talent into Government and Civil Society

This report is an evaluation of the technology talent landscape shows a severe paucity of individuals with technical skills in computer science, data science, and the Internet or other information technology expertise in civil society and government. It investigates broadly the health of the talent pipeline that connects individuals studying or working in information technology-related disciplines to careers in public sector and civil society institutions. Barriers to recruitment and retention of individuals with the requisite skills include compensation, a perceived inability to pursue groundbreaking work, and cultural aversion to innovation

The Value of Information: A Background Paper on Measuring the Contribution of Space-Derived Earth Science Data to National Resource Management

This study, prepared at the request of the Office of Earth Science at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), describes a general framework for conceptualizing the value of information and illustrates how the framework might be used to value information from earth science data collected from space. The framework serves two purposes. One purpose is provision of a common basis by which to conduct and evaluate studies of the value of earth science information that serves a variety of uses, from improving environmental quality to protecting public health and safety. The second purpose is to better inform decisionmakers about the value of data and information. Decisionmakers comprise three communities: consumers and producers of information, public officials whose job is to fund productive investment in data acquisition and information development (including sensors and other hardware, algorithm design and software tools, and a trained labor force), and the public at large.Value of information, earth science, natural resource economics

How Public Is the Internet? A Conversation on the Nature of Human Interactions On-line and the Implications for Research Methods

In the past decade, ???virtual??? research???empirical investigations conducted via the Internet???has increased dramatically across a variety of disparate disciplines. Areas such as cybersecurity and encryption, digital government and citizenship, consumer health informatics, and user behavior in online spaces have emerged to become signature iSchool research areas, often shared with particular disciplinary heritages (e.g., computer science, political science and communication, public health, and sociology???respectively, but not exclusively). In addition, the field of Information Science is dominated by research developing or using emerging technologies. These new technologies often occupy a gray area in which ethical issues either have not been sufficiently well-defined or push against existing definitions. Questions surrounding the ???public??? nature of the internet and Web 2.0-era information technologies have also emerged and have become increasingly urgent given the tightening of federal, state and University regulations as they relate to the protection of human subjects. At the convergence of multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives, Information Science researchers are well-positioned to become more active participants in both scholarly and institutional conversations regarding the appropriate risks and benefits that participants in online research studies might be subject to. Critiques of IRB inconsistencies exist, what we need is a thoughtful and thorough community response to the innately complex nature of virtual research and a map which can guide us towards the future and the study of twenty-first century systems, selves and societies. Our goal for this wildcard event, is to generate a lively and rigorous debate which accomplishes the following three goals: 1) extends the dialogue within the Information Science field concerning the beneficence and respect for participants in online research; 2) enumerates a set of best practices for iSchool researchers in relation to conducting approved research on-line and; 3) moves us towards the process of drafting an iSchool set of ethical guidelines related to virtual research

The Use of Physician Assistants for Health and Wellness in Aging Populations

The Use of Physician Assistants for Health and Wellness in Aging Populations Desiree Longmire, Depts. of Kinesiology and Health Science, Biology, & Chemistry, with Dr. Christine Booker, Dept. of Kinesiology and Health Science I conducted a study to expand my research on the demographics of Physician Assistant (PA) programs and how the programs can benefit from having Gerontology in their curriculum. I was able to record data on an excel spreadsheet on the demographics and pass rate scores of PA program graduates. This data was used to assess if PA programs have Gerontology in their curriculum as separate courses. Also, the data was used to determine if there is a correlation of pass rates of PA programs with more diverse students in specific geographical regions that serve aging populations. This information helps fill the gap in the literature by ascertaining the significance of the use of more diverse PA’s in the health care industry and their ability to impact care for the health and wellness of the aging population.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1345/thumbnail.jp

Health Information Science: 7th International Conference, HIS 2018, Cairns, QLD, Australia, October 5–7, 2018, Proceedings

[Extract] The International Conference Series on Health Information Science (HIS) provides a forum for disseminating and exchanging multidisciplinary research results in computer science/information technology and health science and services. It covers all aspects of health information sciences and systems that support health information management and health service delivery. The 7th International Conference on Health Information Science (HIS 2018) was held in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, during October 5–7, 2018. Founded in April 2012 as the International Conference on Health Information Science and Their Applications, the conference continues to grow to include an ever-broader scope of activities. The main goal of these events is to provide international scientific forums for researchers to exchange new ideas in a number of fields that interact in depth through discussions with their peers from around the world. The scope of the conference includes: (1) medical/health/biomedicine information resources, such as patient medical records, devices and equipments, software and tools to capture, store, retrieve, process, analyze, and optimize the use of information in the health domain; (2) data management, data mining, and knowledge discovery, all of which play a key role in decision-making, management of public health, examination of standards, privacy and security issues; (3) computer visualization and artificial intelligence for computer-aided diagnosis; and (4) development of new architectures and applications for health information systems