Application of social media in the environment and health professional community

Human factors methods in the design of digital decision support systems for population health: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

While Human Factors (HF) methods have been applied to the design of decision support systems (DSS) to aid clinical decision-making, the role of HF to improve decision-support for population health outcomes is less understood. We sought to comprehensively understand how HF methods have been used in designing digital population health DSS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We searched English documents published in health sciences and engineering databases (Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Scopus, Comendex, Inspec, IEEE Xplore) between January 1990 and September 2023 describing the development, validation or application of HF principles to decision support tools in population health.

RESULTS

We identified 21,581 unique records and included 153 studies for data extraction and synthesis. We included research articles that had a target end-user in population health and that used HF. HF methods were applied throughout the design lifecycle. Users were engaged early in the design lifecycle in the needs assessment and requirements gathering phase and design and prototyping phase with qualitative methods such as interviews. In later stages in the lifecycle, during user testing and evaluation, and post deployment evaluation, quantitative methods were more frequently used. However, only three studies used an experimental framework or conducted A/B testing.

CONCLUSIONS

While HF have been applied in a variety of contexts in the design of data-driven DSSs for population health, few have used Human Factors to its full potential. We offer recommendations for how HF can be leveraged throughout the design lifecycle. Most crucially, system designers should engage with users early on and throughout the design process. Our findings can support stakeholders to further empower public health systems.

Social media, knowledge translation, and action on the social determinants of health and health equity: A survey of public health practices

The growth of social media presents opportunities for public health to increase its influence and impact on the social determinants of health and health equity. The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health at St. Francis Xavier University conducted a survey during the first half of 2016 to assess how public health used social media for knowledge translation, relationship building, and specific public health roles to advance health equity. Respondents reported that social media had an important role in public health. Uptake of social media, while relatively high for personal use, was less present in professional settings and varied for different platforms. Over 20 per cent of those surveyed used Twitter or Facebook at least weekly for knowledge exchange. A lesser number used social media for specific health equity action. Opportunities to enhance the use of social media in public health persist. Capacity building and organizational policies that support social media use may help achieve this.

The challenge of social networking in the field of environment and health

BACKGROUND

The fields of environment and health are both interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary, and until recently had little engagement in social networking designed to cross disciplinary boundaries. The EU FP6 project HENVINET aimed to establish integrated social network and networking facilities for multiple stakeholders in environment and health. The underlying assumption is that increased social networking across disciplines and sectors will enhance the quality of both problem knowledge and problem solving, by facilitating interactions. Inter- and trans-disciplinary networks are considered useful for this purpose. This does not mean that such networks are easily organized, as openness to such cooperation and exchange is often difficult to ascertain.

METHODS

Different methods may enhance network building. Using a mixed method approach, a diversity of actions were used in order to investigate the main research question: which kind of social networking activities and structures can best support the objective of enhanced inter- and trans-disciplinary cooperation and exchange in the fields of environment and health. HENVINET applied interviews, a role playing session, a personal response system, a stakeholder workshop and a social networking portal as part of the process of building an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary network.

RESULTS

The interviews provided support for the specification of requirements for an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary network. The role playing session, the personal response system and the stakeholder workshop were assessed as useful tools in forming such network, by increasing the awareness by different disciplines of other's positions. The social networking portal was particularly useful in delivering knowledge, but the role of the scientist in social networking is not yet clear.

CONCLUSIONS

The main challenge in the field of environment and health is not so much a lack of scientific problem knowledge, but rather the ability to effectively communicate, share and use available knowledge for policy making. Structured social network facilities can be useful by policy makers to engage with the research community. It is beneficial for scientists to be able to integrate the perspective of policy makers in the research agenda, and to assist in co-production of policy-relevant information. A diversity of methods need to be applied for network building: according to the fit-for-purpose-principle. It is useful to know which combination of methods and in which time frame produces the best results.Networking projects such as HENVINET are created not only for the benefit of the network itself, but also because the applying of the different methods is a learning tool for future network building. Finally, it is clear that the importance of specialized professionals in enabling effective communication between different groups should not be underestimated.

How can scientists bring research to use: the HENVINET experience

BACKGROUND

Health concerns have driven the European environmental policies of the last 25 years, with issues becoming more complex. Addressing these concerns requires an approach that is both interdisciplinary and engages scientists with society. In response to this requirement, the FP6 coordination action "Health and Environment Network" HENVINET was set up to create a permanent inter-disciplinary network of professionals in the field of health and environment tasked to bridge the communication gap between science and society. In this paper we describe how HENVINET delivered on this task.

METHODS

The HENVINET project approached the issue of inter-disciplinary collaboration in four ways. (1) The Drivers-Pressures-State-Exposure-Effect-Action framework was used to structure information gathering, collaboration and communication between scientists in the field of health and the environment. (2) Interactive web-based tools were developed to enhance methods for knowledge evaluation, and use these methods to formulate policy advice. (3) Quantification methods were adapted to measure scientific agreement. And (4) Open architecture web technology was used to develop an information repository and a web portal to facilitate collaboration and communication among scientists.

RESULTS

Twenty-five organizations from Europe and five from outside Europe participated in the Health and Environment Network HENVINET, which lasted for 3.5 years. The consortium included partners in environmental research, public health and veterinary medicine; included medical practitioners and representatives of local administrations; and had access to national policy making and EEA and WHO expertise. Dedicated web-based tools for visualisation of environmental health issues and knowledge evaluation allowed remote expert elicitation, and were used as a basis for developing policy advice in five health areas (asthma and allergies; cancer; neurodevelopmental disorders; endocrine disruption; and engineered nanoparticles in the environment). An open searchable database of decision support tools was established and populated. A web based social networking tool was developed to enhance collaboration and communication between scientists and society.

CONCLUSIONS

HENVINET addressed key issues that arise in inter-disciplinary research on health and environment and in communicating research results to policy makers and society. HENVINET went beyond traditional scientific tools and methods to bridge the communication gap between science and policy makers. The project identified the need for a common framework and delivered it. It developed and implemented a variety of novel methods and tools and, using several representative examples, demonstrated the process of producing politically relevant scientific advice based on an open participation of experts. It highlighted the need for, and benefits of, a liaison between health and environment professionals and professionals in the social sciences and liberal arts. By adopting critical complexity thinking, HENVINET extended the traditional approach to environment and health research, and set the standard for current approaches to bridge the gap between science and society.