Visualization of Consumer Health Information

产品说明： 研究表明，许多流行网站上的文本很难理解，消费者发现阅读电子格式的文档是有问题的。由于在线阅读的健康信息会影响医患关系，医生的访问可能会影响患者的治疗要求或感知的患者价值-重要的是要尽可能完整和正确地解释和记住这些信息。对健康信息的误解可能会增加做出不明智的健康决定的风险，这可能导致健康状况恶化和医疗保健费用增加。 该项目的目标是开发和测试新技术，以提供更容易理解和记忆的在线健康信息。将开发原型，使网页的结构和内容形象化，以增加理解和保留，而不过分简化。一项小型试点研究显示了这种代表性的积极影响。这两个原型在可视化中包含多少内容细节方面有所不同。将评估这些网站对理解和保留信息的影响，并与现有网站进行比较。用户行为和偏好也将被捕获和分析。三个用户群体将参与原型的开发和评估：老年消费者，西班牙裔非母语人士和患者。选择这些组是因为其可能需要改进信息呈现的特定特征（年龄相关问题、英语能力欠佳和患者压力）。

DESCRIPTION: Research indicates that the text on many popular web sites is difficult to understand and consumers find that reading documents in electronic format is problematic. Since health information read online influences the patient-doctor relationship - e.g., treatments requested, or perceived patient value from a doctor's visit - it is important that this information be interpreted and remembered as completely and correctly as possible. Misunderstandings in health information may increase the risk of making unwise health decisions, which could lead to poorer health and higher health care costs. The goal of the project is to develop and test new technology that can present online health information that is easier to understand and remember. Prototypes will be developed that will visualize both the structure and content of web pages to increase understanding and retention without oversimplification. A small pilot study has shown positive effects of such a representation. The two prototypes will differ in how much content detail is included in the visualization. They will be evaluated for their effects on understanding and retention of information and compared with currently existing web sites. User behavior and preferences will also be captured and analyzed. Three user groups will participate in the development and evaluation of the prototypes: elderly consumers, Hispanic non-native speakers, and patients. These groups were chosen for their specific characteristics (age related problems, sub-optimal command of English, and patients' stress) that may require improved information presentation.