Retha de la HarpeAssociate Professor

Faculty Informatics & DesignCape Peninsula University of

Technology

South Africa

The contextual relevancy of the right information for the right person at the right time, for the right purpose in an online environment

The contextual relevancy of the right information for the right person at the

right time, for the right purpose

in an online environment 

AGENDA

Abundance of information today, Available in the global connected world.

INFORMATIONThose without access to this information are

increasingly becoming isolated. We live in a digital world.

INTRODUCING TECHNOLOGY

Introducing technology solutions Addressing information literacy at the same time.

INFORMATION LITERACY

DEFINING INFORMATION QUALITY

People need the right information at the right time for the right purpose.

DEFINING INFORMATION QUALITY

What is meant by these quality dimensions?

Information quality is complex, Multidimensional and has human involvement

Fit for purpose

DEFINITION OF INFORMATION QUALITY

• The right information means that it must have:-

Meaning Recipient Access Appropriate

R-Information Recipient R-Time R-Purpose

ONLINE ENVIRONMENT & CONTEXT The online environment The information producer & consumer -in a specific context. The information needs of these people need to be

considered.

So much information!

So many choices!

What does it all mean?

INFORMATION CONTEXT

In community-based contexts, information intermediaries often provide information to individuals from communities with a low literacy level.

INFORMATION INTERMEDIARIES The information intermediaries typically convey

information on an informal basis, via face-to-face meetings, focus groups, or discussions.

This could result in information degradation over time, or prove inadequate for sharing and public dissemination.

COMMUNITY BASED CONTEXTS HEALTH INTERMEDIARIES

• There is emphasis today on wellbeing through health promotion and disease prevention.

• More individuals obtain relevant information to enable them manage their own lifestyles.

COMMUNITY BASED CONTEXTS HEALTH INTERMEDIARIES

In community-based contexts health intermediaries take on the role as information consumers to convey relevant information to the individuals.

Even in these cases the health intermediaries may also not have easy access to relevant information.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The context of ubiquitous mobile technology in the Global South Community-oriented information systems Granting universal access – but is this enough?

What is eHealth literacy?

Defined as the ability to

seek, find, understand and appraise health information from electronic sources

and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem.

Unlike other distinct forms of literacy, eHealth literacy combines facets of literacy skills and

applies them to eHealth promotion and care.

WHO, 2013

Reaching poor communities• A mobile library and resource centre for outreach to

support rural schools, early childhood care centres and adult education

• Poor communities - rural and urban communities where people are trapped in a perpetual cycle of poverty and unemployment with the appalling social ills such as… substance abuse, family violence, child abuse, disease and crime … amongst others.  A mobile library goes out to rural primary schools to improve the reading literacy rates.

Health Information LiteracyAn Asset

• For individuals & communities

• Important form of social capital

• and means empowerment

The story of a Health IntermediaryHealth promoter: David

• Completed his Matric; works for NPO in a high-transmission area

• Distributes promotional health materials (condoms, pamphlets)

• A lot of tense discussions with community members, especially medical male circumcision, unprotected sex, and condom use

• Uses paper-based promotional materials; wishes these were more colourful and interactive

• He owns a feature mobile phone and uses a pay-as-you-go option. He has limited money available to buy more airtime

Context considerations to design mHealth Solutions

Four intersecting dimensions of context– Personal (micro)

– Physical (meso)

– Socio-economic (macro)

– Interactional (dynamic)

Context Information need

Personal (micro) Locally defined information about treatment, prevention, and promotion.

Physical (meso) Information that supports the services provided, including health facilities, resources, services, partners, and training opportunities in the region.

Socio-economic (macro) Information about guidelines, policies, international best practices, and laws.

Interactional (dynamic) Information practices; information seeking and behaviour of individuals and groups; experiences when interacting with information objects and with mobile devices, systems or applications.

mHealth Intermediary Information Model

• Health intermediaries need information to support their work practices;

• Currently, the vast amount of health information is not always accessible and locally relevant;

• An intervention may be needed to facilitate the access and use of relevant health information for intermediaries. mHealth has the potential to facilitate this;

• Intermediaries’ work practices are influenced by the contexts in which they function;

mHealth Intermediary Information Model

• Contextual aspects are complex and need to be unpacked to provide for possible information interventions;

• Contexts manifest as both static and dynamic modalities. Example, availability of a phone (static) against using the phone to seek and use information (dynamic).

• In designing mobile interventions, both static and dynamic context considerations are required.

Information Recipient

Intermediary

Information Practices

MobileApp

Health and Wellbeing Information

Person

alP

hysicalM

acroG

lobal

Time

Information Space

Two contextual design considerations

1. Determine the static context dimensions across three levels: personal (subjective, experiential realms) physical (temporal, spatial, material realms) macro (geographic and socio-economic realms)

2. Determine the dynamic information space in terms of information practices Relations user experiences (the ‘fourth context’)

This concerns the interaction between intermediaries and recipients, especially related to information practices, objects and behaviour.

AcknowledgementINDEHELA-ISD4D Project –funded by the Academy of Finland

Thank you