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Report and designer's guide outlines the role of human factors in home health care

A new report and consumer health information technology (IT) designer's guide published by the National Academies of Science and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality outline the impact of technology, environment, policy, and human factors on the growing field of home health care.
The report, Health Care Comes Home: The Human Factors, describes the areas in which human factors can influence health care in the home. The report explores the role of the environment on the delivery of health care in the home; what devices and tools are available; and the changes health IT has created in the delivery of home health care. It also discusses the ways different cultures approach health care in the home and the effects that policy and regulation can have on home health care. The report offers recommendations on next steps to ensure quality health care in the home setting.
As a companion to the report, a consumer health IT designer's guide, Consumer Health Information Technology in the Home: A Guide for Human Factors Design Considerations, was also published. The guide offers consumer health IT developers and vendors guidance on issues to consider for health IT systems to be used in the home, and provides home health professionals guidance in selecting tools to complement professional home care services.
To read the report and recommendations, visit http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13149.