Research

I am interested in exploring how technology can be used to promote healthy living. In my research, I have borrowed user-centered design and participatory design techniques, and have applied them on computer applications from health informatics domain. As technology becomes cheaper and more accessible, it is important that we examine different ways in which health-related applications can help people in improving their daily living.

Health Bridge

Health Bridge is an envisioned system that encourages the use of Personal Health Records (PHRs) by providing interoperable assistive tools to help low-socioeconomic families manage their health. Although there are many PHRs available today, not many people use them because it is unclear what are the motivations for continued use. Low socioeconomic individuals could benefit from PHRs because they could efficiently share health information with the multitude of healthcare professionals they see. In our previous research, we found that low socioeconomic caregivers receive a lot of health promotion literature, but are unsure how to apply the information to their own culturally influenced lives. Health Bridge will provide families a way to input nutritional information into a PHR and receive personalized feedback on what they are consuming and how they can integrate healthier, culturally sensitive options into their diets.

The Colorado Care Tablet

Colorado Care Tablet (CCT) is a Personal Health Record (PHR) Tablet PC application that helps older adults during transitions of care coordinate their care among multiple providers and caregivers and learn about the medication they are consuming. Medication errors are prevalent among older adults who are in transition between the hospital, home, or assisted living community. CCT empowers older adults to learn about what medications to take when and care providers to understand all medications an older adult consumes.

Below: Main application screen of the final CCT prototype with an overview of the four main functions

Below: CCT interface screens: (a) home screen with a two-column information layout; (b) deletion

confirmation box; (c) medication information screen; (d) example screen with information for possible side effects