Dissertation Information for Predrag KlasnjaNAME:
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SCHOOL: ADVISORS: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: MPACT Status: Fully Complete Title: Supporting Unanchored Information Work of Cancer Patients with Mobile Technology Abstract: Cancer patients do considerable information work to manage their care. Technologies that help patients manage health information, such as personal health records and health websites, provide effective support for focused and sustained personal health tasks that patients need to do to play an active role in their care. However, little attention has been paid to patients' need to work with care-related information in circumstances when they lack time, tools, and attention to manage information effectively--such as when they are away from their health information collections or are experiencing chemotherapy side effects. I have called such patient information activities "unanchored patient information work." In my dissertation, I describe my formative work to characterize these important information activities of cancer patients and the circumstances that make them so challenging. Specifically, I argue that patients' efforts to manage care-related information can be impaired both by outside factors that make information management more difficult, such as coordinating care while out and about, and by internal factors that reduce patients' ability to effectively deal with information--such as pain and anxiety. I then describe the iterative, user-centered design of a mobile phone application called HealthWeaver Mobile, developed to support unanchored information activities, and its evaluation with patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Research described in this dissertation furthers our understanding of patients' personal health information management practices and it eases an important but challenging aspect of the work that cancer patients do to manage their care. |
MPACT Scores for Predrag KlasnjaA = 0 Advisors and Advisees Graph |