HI 60419 Consumer Health Informatics

LIS course for Kent State University graduate students only. This course examines the history and current trends in consumer health informatics and health information seeking, examining how consumers (patients, clinicians, and healthcare stakeholders) manage health and health information in the digital age. The evolution of health information technology has expanded the role of the patient to include being a consumer of healthcare, bringing with it more capabilities and responsibilities. The course will discuss health information and communication strategies, as well as technologies and their influence on health care for patients affecting health information seeking behaviors and expectations among multiple stakeholder groups. The course will discuss US and global perspectives for health information professionals serving health information needs in medical libraries and the community.

Resource URL: [Pending] 

Learning Objectives

1. Define consumer health informatics and the evolution of the field of health information.
2. Examine contextual elements for how patients across the life spectrum utilize consumer health information to engage, manage and experience healthcare in the digital age.
3. Articulate challenges and opportunities of emerging health information
technologies including how they shape the experience and expectations of healthcare stakeholders in the community and across different populations.
4. Summarize the ethical and legal considerations for health information professionals and the field of consumer health informatics.
5. Evaluate factors surrounding health information seeking behavior relative to consumer health technology and consumer health informatics.
6. Identify patterns of Health IT use among consumers and providers, behavior change models, and how they contribute to population health.
7. Summarize how health and information literacy, patient-centered health and wellness information sources and practices can affect health care consumers in the community.
8. Examine the future of consumer health informatics and its implications for healthcare, through comparing and contrasting US and global perspectives and cultural contextual elements for health information professionals.
9. Develop consumer health information tools and research from a professional perspective.

Agenda

This course is offered over 7 weeks; 100% web-based; asynchronous.

MLA CE Credits: 24