Web-based tailored health communications are a novel technology and therefore it is reasonable to consider new methods for evaluation extending beyond those most traditional and familiar to health behavior research. Issues that relate to evaluating Web-based tailored communications became apparent in the course of developing the MI-HEART Project. MI-HEART examines ways in which a clinical information system can favorably influence decision-making in patients suffering from symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Our hypothesis is that educational strategies tailored to information from a patients' medical record will exert a favorable influence on measurable parameters. The project uses patient-specific information from an electronic medical record supplemented by an on-line questionnaire to tailor and produce educational messages. There were many features that posed special challenges for evaluating our tailored intervention. Among them, deciding upon key tailoring variables, how to collect and operationalize these variables on-line for baseline measures, selection of data sources for assessing on-line user behavior, and evaluating the information resource itself to determine if it is actually functioning as intended. Some of the issues we faced were resolved using traditional evaluation methodology, but others required us to move into the cusp of uncharted evaluation design issues related directly to the tailoring approach. This presentation will map out specific methodologies which merit practical research to reset evaluation and assessment tools to the emerging field of tailored communication. Illustrations from the MI-HEART Project will be discussed to exemplify how these evaluation methods have been applied.
Learning Objectives: Identify novel evaluation methodologies with specific application to web-based tailored health communication interventions. Associate methods and assessment tools to formative, process, and impact evaluation phases of web-based tailored health communication interventions.
Keywords: Health Communications, Technology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.