A Multidiscipline Conceptual Framework for Consumer Health Informatics

This paper presents an idealized conceptual framework for consumer health informatics research drawing from complementary disciplines: information science and health campaign research. This synthesis is designed to provide researchers with a flexible model to evaluate current research and inform future studies. Following a description of the major components, we describe a recent evaluation of consumer perceptions of a health information system, Genetics Health Reference. This study illustrates how the framework may be applied to provide some direction and insights into ongoing consumer health informatics research. While this model represents a work in progress, we present it in support of efforts to understand the multidimensional impacts of the public's access to health information. We also discuss challenges that remain to develop a better conceptual understanding of how consumers converge on health informatics services.