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Technology’s impact on health care targeted in $3 million study
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Contact:
Ellen Balka, 604.291.3764; 604.291.3757; ellen_balka@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, Media & PR, 604.291.4323; marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
Ellen Balka, 604.291.3764; 604.291.3757; ellen_balka@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, Media & PR, 604.291.4323; marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
January 6, 2004
Simon Fraser University communication professor Ellen Balka’s focus on how technology impacts the health sector has been given a $3 million shot in the arm. She’ll spend the next four years as project leader of a study on the role of technology in the production and use of health information.
The study is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council through its Initiative on the New Economy (INE) program.
Balka’s goal is to expand on her ongoing work to get a clearer picture of technology’s impact on the public as well as health professionals. The project will enable her research team to investigate the effectiveness of technology and potentially influence the design of policies and new technological systems.
"One of the goals of our research is to better understand the problems that occur as new technologies are introduced into health settings," says Balka, director of SFU’s assessment of technology in context design lab. She is also a research scientist with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. "We hear far too often that a new computer system has made work more difficult — our goal is to learn more about the contexts in which technologies are used, so that new technologies can be designed to better meet users’ needs."
Health care has become increasingly subject to computerization while use of the internet as a source of health information continues to grow, leading to a variety of concerns. These include issues of access, and how information is interpreted.
Balka hopes to determine whether existing internet delivery of health information and the growing computerization of health care jobs achieve desired results, such as equitable access to health information leading to improved health.
The project will have global involvement, with researchers carrying out case studies in Canada, Austria, Australia the U.K. and Netherlands
The need to better understand the role of health information technologies was identified in the recent high profile Romanow and Kirby reports on the nation’s health care system.
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Websites:
SFU Assessment of technology in context design lab: www.sfu.ca/~aticdl/
Social Science & Humanities Research Council www.sshrc.ca/web/whatsnew/press_releases/2003/ine_cura_sfu_e.asp
The study is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council through its Initiative on the New Economy (INE) program.
Balka’s goal is to expand on her ongoing work to get a clearer picture of technology’s impact on the public as well as health professionals. The project will enable her research team to investigate the effectiveness of technology and potentially influence the design of policies and new technological systems.
"One of the goals of our research is to better understand the problems that occur as new technologies are introduced into health settings," says Balka, director of SFU’s assessment of technology in context design lab. She is also a research scientist with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. "We hear far too often that a new computer system has made work more difficult — our goal is to learn more about the contexts in which technologies are used, so that new technologies can be designed to better meet users’ needs."
Health care has become increasingly subject to computerization while use of the internet as a source of health information continues to grow, leading to a variety of concerns. These include issues of access, and how information is interpreted.
Balka hopes to determine whether existing internet delivery of health information and the growing computerization of health care jobs achieve desired results, such as equitable access to health information leading to improved health.
The project will have global involvement, with researchers carrying out case studies in Canada, Austria, Australia the U.K. and Netherlands
The need to better understand the role of health information technologies was identified in the recent high profile Romanow and Kirby reports on the nation’s health care system.
—30—
Websites:
SFU Assessment of technology in context design lab: www.sfu.ca/~aticdl/
Social Science & Humanities Research Council www.sshrc.ca/web/whatsnew/press_releases/2003/ine_cura_sfu_e.asp