Delivering consumer health information digitally: a comparison between the web and touchscreen kiosk.

Full Abstract

Employing survey and web log data the study presented here compares the use and users of two digital health information platforms geared toward consumers-web-sites and touchscreen information kiosks. The kiosks featured are those supplied by InTouch With Health and the web-site is surgerydoor (some analysis of NHSDirect Online is also supplied). Problems of making direct comparisons between the two platforms are discussed and comparative figures provided. The two platforms were compared using the following metrics:
page view time, session duration, number of sessions conducted, pages viewed per session, and topic/subject of pages viewed. Possible reasons for the differences between the two platforms are discussed, including the environment in which they are housed, the proximity of the platform to the user, the specific purpose of the individual platform, the different audiences served, the extent of delegation, the computer literacy of the audiences served, the quantity and comprehensiveness of the platform's information, and user's perceptions of authority. The research reminds and informs web-site and kiosk designers of the different audiences that they serve. The work reported here forms part of a Department of Health funded study which is evaluating digital health information provision to the consumer, in particular the use and impact of more than seventy heath kiosks located in all kinds of locations throughout the United Kingdom.

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Author information

Author/s: Nicholas, David (D); Huntington, Paul (P); Williams, Peter (P);

Affiliation: The Internet Studies Research Group, Department of Information Science, City University, London EC1V 0HB. nicky(-atsign-)soi.city.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of medical systems (J Med Syst), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Feb; vol 27 (issue 1) : pp 13-34

Dates: Created 2003/03/05; Completed 2003/03/28; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12617195, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Information Services - organization & administration
Internet
Organizational Objectives
State Medicine
User-Computer Interface

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