Using interactive health information technologies to educate and engage at risk youths and families

Health disparities in the 21st century require 21st century solutions. This presentation describes three health information technology interventions designed to improve patient education and engagement through interactive interfaces that support education and engagement of patients from disparity populations. First, Health eTouch is a touch-screen tablet-based computer-assisted self-interviewing system used to screen adolescents for high-risk behaviors and behavioral health issues. The system has been in use for five years and has demonstrated improvements in problem recognition and referral. It has also shown potential for delivering tailored health information messages on sensitive topics including HIV risk. Second, the Pediaglyphs system is a literacy-sensitive computerized patient education tool which uses a combination of text, pictographs, and video to train parents on managing their child's asthma. It was specifically designed to impact disparities in asthma outcomes. Finally, the Surgery Navigator is a MicroSoft Surface based system designed to help clinicians educate and consent patients and parents prior to surgery. The multi-touch surface environment allows for the parent and clinician to simultaneously interact with the display. The system's built-in comprehension assessments, which can ask users to answer questions or to draw the location of a planned surgical incision, can improve informed consent and reduce patient and parent anxiety. Preliminary evaluations of each of these systems have shown the technologies to be well accepted by users and have suggested positive clinical outcomes. However, significant challenges remain institutionalization and dissemination. These include: funding continued use after research grant funds end, creating business models for partnerships between providers and developers, and re-designing clinical processes so that added technology does not significantly increase burden on clinical and administrative staff members.