Contributions of activity ergonomics to the design of an electronic health record to support collaborative mental care of children and youth: Preliminary results

Issue title: Special Section: Ergonomics in a Global World

Article type: Research Article

Authors: do Carmo Alonso, Carolina Maria^{a; *} | de Lima, Anderson Nogueira^b | Oggioni, Barbara de Macedo Passos^b | Teixeira, Melissa Ribeiro^c | Oliveira, Eliel Prueza^a | Couto, Maria Cristina Ventura^c | Duarte, Francisco Josde C.M.^b

Affiliations: [a] Department of Occupational Therapy, Medical School, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [b] Production Engineering Program, COPPE, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [c] Research Group on Public Mental Health Policies, Institute of Psychiatry, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Prof. Carolina Maria do Carmo Alonso, Rodolpho Paulo Rocco, s/n – Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bloco K, Sala 17, Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro 21941-617, Brazil. Tel.: +55 21 3938 6506; E-mail: carolina.alonso@ufrj.br.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:The use of electronic health records (EHR) is related to the improvement of service quality and care coordination. The design of this platform generally focuses on the individual use of the system and does not integrate the specific needs of workers to provide support for collaborative activities. OBJECTIVE:The study investigated how activity ergonomics (AE) contributed to improve the design of an EHR that supports the collaborative mental health care of children and youth. METHODS:This qualitative study, based on the theoretical framework of AE, used individual and group interviews and document analysis as research procedures. The data collection occurred between March and September 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. RESULTS:The study highlighted the following points: the characteristics that marked the different perceptions of workers regarding the use of a communication tool for collaborative care; the problems related to spreadsheet usability; and the desirable attributes that should be considered in the conception of a new EHR. CONCLUSIONS:The research indicated that AE favors improving the design of an EHR by incorporating the work dimension into the project.

Keywords: Participatory design, human engineering, service integration

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-193048

Journal: Work, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 187-194, 2020