Upgrading your computer skills: the time is now.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Computer Literacy↗
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Results for “Computer Literacy”
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Future patient care: tele-empowerment.
We explored the attitudes and responses of older people to telecare and home-based technologies. The perceptions of a small group of subjects who had no knowledge or experience of the use of telehealth equipment were compared with the experiences of a second small group who had used a video-link in a remote consultation with their general practitioner. Data were collected by engaging subjects in a semistructured interview in their own home. A questionnaire, which was developed following the analysis of the interview data, was also distributed to three client groups in Scotland. These groups were day hospital patients, residents of local authority sheltered housing schemes and residents of a private housing association. One hundred and ninety-nine questionnaires were returned (a 42% response rate), all from people aged 60 years and over. Analysis of the questionnaires suggested that the main demographic factors associated with positive attitudes to telecare were age, home ownership, dwelling type (sheltered housing or not) and household composition. The results suggest that an appropriate nurse-led telehealth service, which facilitates trust between clients, providers and the technology, could be the mechanism by which to encourage people to accept and use home-based systems.
Aged↗
The link between autism and skills such as engineering, maths, physics and computing: a reply to Jarrold and Routh.
In the first edition of this journal, we published a paper reporting that fathers and grandfathers of children with autism were over-represented in the field of engineering. This result was interpreted as providing supporting evidence for the folk-psychology/folk-physics theory of autism. After carrying out further analyses on the same data, Jarrold and Routh found that fathers of children with autism were also over-represented in accountancy and science. They suggested that these results could either provide additional support for the folk-psychology/folk-physics theory or be accounted for by an over-representation of professionals amongst the fathers of children with autism. Here we present evidence that engineers are still over-represented among fathers of children with autism, even taking into account the professional bias.
Adult↗
Case-based exercises fail to improve medical students' information management skills: a controlled trial.
BACKGROUND: Tomorrow's physicians must learn to access, retrieve, integrate and apply current information into ambulatory patient encounters, yet few medical schools teach 'real time' information management. METHODS: We compared two groups of clerkship students' information management skills using a standardized patient case. The intervention group participated in case-based discussions including exercises that required them to manage new information. The control group completed the same case discussions without information management exercises. RESULTS: After five weeks, there was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups' scores on the standardized patient case. However, third rotation students significantly outperformed first rotation students. CONCLUSION: Case-based exercises to teach information management failed to improve students' performance on a standardized patient case. Increased number of clinical rotations was associated with improved performance.
Adult↗
A survey of the use of electronic scientific information resources among medical and dental students.
BACKGROUND: To evaluate medical and dental students' utilization of electronic information resources. METHODS: A web survey sent to 837 students (49.9% responded). RESULTS: Twenty-four per cent of medical students and nineteen per cent of dental students searched MEDLINE 2+ times/month for study purposes, and thiry-two per cent and twenty-four per cent respectively for research. Full-text articles were used 2+ times/month by thirty-three per cent of medical and ten per cent of dental students. Twelve per cent of respondents never utilized either MEDLINE or full-text articles. In multivariate models, the information-searching skills among students were significantly associated with use of MEDLINE and full-text articles. CONCLUSION: Use of electronic resources differs among students. Forty percent were non-users of full-text articles. Information-searching skills are correlated with the use of electronic resources, but the level of basic PC skills plays not a major role in using these resources. The student data shows that adequate training in information-searching skills will increase the use of electronic information resources.
Computer Literacy↗
Computerized symptom and quality-of-life assessment for patients with cancer part I: development and pilot testing.
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To develop and test an innovative computerized symptom and quality-of-life (QOL) assessment for patients with cancer who are evaluated for and treated with radiation therapy. DESIGN: Descriptive, longitudinal prototype development and cross-sectional clinical data. SETTING: Department of radiation oncology in an urban, academic medical center. SAMPLE: 101 outpatients who were evaluated for radiation therapy, able to communicate in English (or through one of many interpreters available at the University of Washington), and competent to understand the study information and give informed consent. Six clinicians caring for the patients in the sample were enrolled. METHODS: Iterative prototype development was conducted using a standing focus group of clinicians. The software was developed based on survey markup language and implemented in a wireless, Web-based format. Patient participants completed the computerized assessment prior to consultation with the radiation physician. Graphical output pages with flagged areas of symptom distress or troublesome QOL issues were made available to consulting physicians and nurses. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Pain intensity, symptoms, QOL, and demographics. INSTRUMENTS: Computerized versions of a 0 to 10 Pain Intensity Numerical Scale (PINS), Symptom Distress Scale, and Short Form-8. FINDINGS: Focus group recommendations included clinician priorities of brevity, flexibility, and simplicity for both input interface and output and that the assessment output contain color graphic display. Patient participants included 45 women and 56 men with a mean age of 52.7 years (SD = 13.8). Fewer than half of the participants (40%) reported using a computer on a regular basis (weekly or daily). Completion time averaged 7.8 minutes (SD = 3.7). Moderate to high levels of distress were reported more often for fatigue, pain, and emotional issues than for other symptoms or concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Computerized assessment of cancer symptoms and QOL is technically possible and feasible in an ambulatory cancer clinic. A wireless, Web-based system facilitates access to results and data entry and retrieval. The symptom and QOL profiles of these patients new to radiation therapy were comparable to other samples of outpatients with cancer. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: The ability to capture an easily interpreted illustration of a patients symptom and QOL experience in less than 10 minutes is a potentially useful adjunct to traditional face-to-face interviewing. Ultimately, electronic patient-generated data could produce automated red flags directed to the most appropriate clinicians (e.g., nurse, pain specialist, social worker, nutritionist) for further evaluation. Such system enhancement could greatly facilitate oncology nurses coordination role in caring for complex patients with cancer.
Academic Medical Centers↗
Computerized symptom and quality-of-life assessment for patients with cancer part II: acceptability and usability.
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To determine the acceptability and usability of a computerized quality-of-life (QOL) and symptom assessment tool and the graphically displayed QOL and symptom output in an ambulatory radiation oncology clinic. DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional. SETTING: Radiation oncology clinic located in an urban university medical center. SAMPLE: 45 patients with cancer being evaluated for radiation therapy and 10 clinicians, who submitted 12 surveys. METHODS: Acceptability of the computerized assessment was measured with an online, 16-item, Likert-style survey delivered as 45 patients undergoing radiation therapy completed a 25-item QOL and symptom assessment. Usability of the graphic output was assessed with clinician completion of a four-item paper survey. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Acceptability and usability of computerized patient assessment. FINDINGS: The patient acceptability survey indicated that 70% (n = 28) liked computers and 10% (n = 4) did not. The program was easy to use for 79% (n = 26), easy to understand for 91% (n = 30), and enjoyable for 71% (n = 24). Seventy-six percent (n = 25) believed that the amount of time needed to complete the computerized survey was acceptable. Sixty-six percent (n = 21) responded that they were satisfied with the program, and none of the participants chose the very dissatisfied response. Eighty-three percent (n = 10) of the clinicians found the graphic output helpful in promoting communication with patients, 75% (n = 9) found the output report helpful in identifying appropriate areas of QOL deficits or concerns, and 83% (n = 10) indicated that the output helped guide clinical interactions with patients. CONCLUSIONS: The computer-based QOL and symptom assessment tool is acceptable to patients, and the graphically displayed QOL and symptom output is useful to radiation oncology nurses and physicians. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Wider application of computerized patient-generated data can continue in various cancer settings and be tested for clinical and organizational outcomes.
Academic Medical Centers↗
Out of necessity: oncology nurses' experiences integrating the internet into practice.
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To understand the experiences of oncology nurses who use the Internet in their practice when their patients use the Internet for cancer care. RESEARCH APPROACH: Heideggerian hermeneutics branch of phenomenology. SETTING: Oncology nurses were interviewed at their practice settings (n = 13), the researcher's office (n = 5), or their homes (n = 2). PARTICIPANTS: 20 nurses recruited from local and national Oncology Nursing Society meetings. Their practice sites were cancer centers, hospitals, clinics, veterans centers, communities, and Internet companies. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH: Data were collected by informal interviews that provided the narrative stories for hermeneutic analysis. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Internet use for cancer care, nurse-patient relationships, and Internet use for nursing practice. FINDINGS: Five related themes emerged: (a) varying degrees of Internet integration in the practice environment, (b) changing schools of thought, (c) developing Internet use for professional practice, (d) redefining relationships, and (e) new nursing skills. The two constitutive patterns are (a) integrating Internet into practice out of necessity and (b) reflecting historical changes in practice patterns influenced by technology. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses who use the Internet are developing new practice patterns that incorporate technology and foster nurse-patient partnerships. Practice environments either foster or hinder technology use. Nurse computer competency is essential. INTERPRETATION: Findings reflect the influence of adapting technology on practice. Internet use is a catalyst for redefining nurse-patient relationships into partnerships. The movement suggests a need for nurse Internet competencies, environmental support, and consideration for patient access (digital divide). Evaluation of content in nursing curricula and of patient competencies is advised. Further research on patient experiences is recommended.
Adult↗
Factors associated with success in searching MEDLINE and applying evidence to answer clinical questions.
OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the ability of medical and nurse practitioner students to use MEDLINE to obtain evidence for answering clinical questions and to identify factors associated with the successful answering of questions. METHODS: A convenience sample of medical and nurse practitioner students was recruited. After completing instruments measuring demographic variables, computer and searching attitudes and experience, and cognitive traits, the subjects were given a brief orientation to MEDLINE searching and the techniques of evidence-based medicine. The subjects were then given 5 questions (from a pool of 20) to answer in two sessions using the Ovid MEDLINE system and the Oregon Health & Science University library collection. Each question was answered using three possible responses that reflected the quality of the evidence. All actions capable of being logged by the Ovid system were captured. Statistical analysis was performed using a model based on generalized estimating equations. The relevance-based measures of recall and precision were measured by defining end queries and having relevance judgments made by physicians who were not associated with the study. RESULTS: Forty-five medical and 21 nurse practitioner students provided usable answers to 324 questions. The rate of correctness increased from 32.3 to 51.6 percent for medical students and from 31.7 to 34.7 percent for nurse practitioner students. Ability to answer questions correctly was most strongly associated with correctness of the answer before searching, user experience with MEDLINE features, the evidence-based medicine question type, and the spatial visualization score. The spatial visualization score showed multi-colinearity with student type (medical vs. nurse practitioner). Medical and nurse practitioner students obtained comparable recall and precision, neither of which was associated with correctness of the answer. CONCLUSIONS: Medical and nurse practitioner students in this study were at best moderately successful at answering clinical questions correctly with the assistance of literature searching. The results confirm the importance of evaluating both search ability and the ability to use the resulting information to accomplish a clinical task.
Adult↗
Correlates of electronic health record adoption in office practices: a statewide survey.
OBJECTIVE: Despite emerging evidence that electronic health records (EHRs) can improve the efficiency and quality of medical care, most physicians in office practice in the United States do not currently use an EHR. We sought to measure the correlates of EHR adoption. DESIGN: Mailed survey to a stratified random sample of all medical practices in Massachusetts in 2005, with one physician per practice randomly selected for survey. MEASUREMENTS: EHR adoption rates. RESULTS: The response rate was 71% (1345/1884). Overall, while 45% of physicians were using an EHR, EHRs were present in only 23% of practices. In multivariate analysis, practice size was strongly correlated with EHR adoption; 52% of practices with 7 or more physicians had an EHR, as compared with 14% of solo practices (adjusted odds ratio, 3.66; 95% confidence interval, 2.28-5.87). Hospital-based practices (adjusted odds ratio, 2.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.53-3.91) and practices that teach medical students or residents (adjusted odds ratio, 2.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.60-3.31) were more likely to have an EHR. The most frequently cited barriers to adoption were start-up financial costs (84%), ongoing financial costs (82%), and loss of productivity (81%). CONCLUSIONS: While almost half of physicians in Massachusetts are using an EHR, fewer than one in four practices in Massachusetts have adopted EHRs. Adoption rates are lower in smaller practices, those not affiliated with hospitals, and those that do not teach medical students or residents. Interventions to expand EHR use must address both financial and non-financial barriers, especially among smaller practices.
Attitude to Computers↗
Impact on quality of life of a telemedicine system supporting head and neck cancer patients: a controlled trial during the postoperative period at home.
OBJECTIVES: Telemedicine applications carry the potential to enhance the quality of life of patients, but studies evaluating telemedicine applications are still scarce. The evidence regarding the effectiveness of telemedicine is limited and not yet conclusive. This study investigated whether telemedicine could be beneficial to the quality of life of cancer patients. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: Between 1999 and 2002, we conducted a prospective controlled trial evaluating the effects of a telemedicine application on the quality of life of patients with cancer involving the head and neck, using quality of life questionnaires that covered 22 quality of life parameters. All patients had undergone surgery for head and neck cancer at the Erasmus MC, a tertiary university hospital in The Netherlands. Patients in the intervention group were given access to an electronic health information support system for a period of six weeks, starting at discharge from the hospital. RESULTS: In total, we included 145 patients in the control group and 39 in the intervention group. At 6 weeks, the end of the intervention, the intervention group had significantly improved QoL in 5 of the 22 studied parameters. Only one of these five quality of life parameters remained significantly different at 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the sparse evidence that telemedicine may be beneficial for the quality of life of cancer patients.
Adult↗
Online cancer education and immigrants: effecting culturally appropriate websites.
UNLABELLED: The online population is becoming increasingly diverse. Cancer information websites are a popular destination. However, culturally-appropriate cancer information websites are lacking. METHODS: An Internet behavior and preference study was conducted in Caribbean immigrant women. 60 English-speaking Caribbean immigrant women in New York City participated in website review sessions. RESULTS: Three-quarters of the participants used computers regularly. Over 80% accessed the Internet from home. Over 50% felt confident using the Internet. However, only 6% used the Internet to search for health information. CONCLUSION: A "cultural digital divide" exists. The Internet should be tailored to immigrants to facilitate web-based cancer education.
Adult↗
An online survey of nurses' perceptions, knowledge and expectations of the National Health Service modernization programme.
We conducted an online survey to investigate nurses' perceptions, knowledge and expectations of the National Health Service (NHS) modernization programme in the UK. The questionnaire was available for 28 days via the Website of the Royal College of Nursing. The questionnaire was completed by 2020 nurses, midwives and health visitors working in all sectors of the health service in a wide range of specialties and environments of care. Less than one-quarter of respondents felt that they had adequate information about NHS information technology (IT) developments. In all, 528 (26%) said this was the first they had heard of the initiatives. Only 383 respondents (19%) felt adequately informed about the development of electronic health records; 470 (23%) felt inadequately informed and 456 (23%) had only heard something about it. The findings of this survey suggest that nursing staff are not widely aware of current IT plans and programmes in the NHS. They suggest that nurses also lack confidence in using advanced IT, which is compounded by lack of training.
Attitude of Health Personnel↗
Nurses are not confident in how to access research.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Attitude of Health Personnel↗
Swedish women and new technology.
This paper provides information and analysis on the overall situation of women in Sweden with regard to computer based new technology. It is based on a survey of computer use in Sweden, carried out in June 1984 by Statistics Sweden. The aim of the study was to ascertain the knowledge base and experience with computers of the Swedish population. In order to study whether sex differences exist a special analysis of the data was carried out. Women are involved in new technology in Sweden to a very great extent, however, there is male dominance in both the initiation and development of the technology. This may be as much reflective of general male and female roles in the workplace as of the nature of new technology itself.
Career Mobility↗
MEDLINE on CD-ROM: end user searching in a medical school library.
End users at the Medical College of Pennsylvania enjoyed searching CD-ROM versions of MEDLINE and judged such searches "extremely useful." To assess the effectiveness of their searches, a sample of 500 search statements from Compact Cambridge (CC) MEDLINE was examined. A high proportion of search statements (224, or 45 percent) retrieved no documents. Over one-third of search statements (185, or 37 percent) contained at least one error, which usually resulted in zero retrieval for that search statement. Searchers attempting to enter Medical Subject Headings were frequently defeated by the elaborate punctuation requirement of CC MEDLINE. "Missed opportunities" were evident in over three-fourths of search statements. One-on-one instruction and library classes may increase search success, but these measures reach a limited audience. Improvement in the search software itself is needed to help searchers improve the effectiveness of their searches.
Computer Literacy↗
Food for thought: recipes for the new century.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Computer Literacy↗
Attitudes toward computers of preservice teachers of hearing-impaired students.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗