Invisible Work Meets Visible Work: Infrastructuring from the Perspective of Patients and Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Increased patient engagement and the use of new types of data, such as patient-generated health data (PGHD) is shifting how work is performed in relation to healthcare. This change enables healthcare professionals to delegate parts of work previously conducted by them to patients. There is a consensus regarding the need for nurses and physicians to work seamlessly together to make healthcare flow, but the role and responsibility of patients are less researched. In this paper, we aim to fill that gap by focusing on the shift of work from healthcare professionals to patients from the perspective of i) patients and ii) healthcare professionals. We use infrastructuring as a lens to understand the design of everyday work and actions from both perspectives. The main contribution is an analysis of, and insights into, how the work of patients can support healthcare professionals along with a conceptualization of how infrastructuring processes within and outside of healthcare are interconnected.

Data-Driven Healthcare: Critically Examining the Role of Self-care and Data-Driven Decision-Making in Diabetes Management

“…First, and in line with prior research on digital health, our study highlights that using apps for self-care has the dual effect of enabling and constraining patients in self-managing their disease in their everyday life [10]. Whether initiated by healthcare by the patients themselves, selfmanagement, self-care, and continuous monitoring entail the integration of digital technology, which has a bearing on the meaning of care and has an influence on the role of both professionals and the patients [10], [17], [34], [35]. What we essentially mean by that is that relying on data can include a dichotomy.…”

“…However, although there is extensive research, the literature is broad and disparate, making it hard to get an overview, and the evidence is inconclusive [22]. A remaining issue to address is how to move beyond just adhering to prescription schedules and basic recommendations about nutrition and physical activity towards engaging and supporting patients and consumers in self-management through meaningful engagement and shared decision-making enabled by digital health technologies [10], [18].…”

“…The increased collection of data conducted by patients has led to significant growth of so-called patient-generated health data as well as of digitally empowered and engaged patients who are involved, informed, and take an active role in decisions about their health and treatment [5], [8], [9]. In that category, there is a newfound interest in understanding how mobile applications can assist in small decision-making processes related to healthcare in general and towards patient self-help or self-care in particular, and few attempts have been made to be proactive and use the power of apps to create new self-care trajectories that can help with everyday decision-making for patients [10]- [13].…”

Decreased Memory Bias via a Mobile Application: A Symptom Tracker to Monitor Children’s Periodic Fever

“…While mHealth apps have benefits such as accessibility, cost reduction, improved patient quality of life, alongside more precise and personalized disease management, to fulfill the positive outcomes, they need to be linked to clinical practice and adapted to both patients and healthcare [8]. A symptom tracker can be used as a way to gather patientgenerated health data (PGHD), which can help patients organize details and activities of the illness, increase engagement, and promote patient empowerment while enhancing adherence to treatment [9,10]. Factors, such as differences in parental approach to fever management and methods of diagnosis may also influence the design of the tracker and whether memory bias is decreased [11].…”

The Intersection Between Information Systems and Workplace Learning: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

“…The learning object in digitalization efforts is often understood as learning to operate digital objects, or through the capability such an object with a focus on the development of specific software. However, contemporary workplaces demand competencies that call for understanding new learning and leadership practices in digital work [8][9][10]. Thus, a deeper understanding of learning in the circumstances of digital practices is important [11,12].…”