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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to have a better understanding of the development and utilization of a personal health record.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to know how a personal health record was evaluated by sevearl different groups.
Purpose: The purpose is to report the evaluation of a low-tech personal health record, My Health Companion© (MHC©), designed to assist in tracking, maintaining, and appropriately communicating health information.
Background: The conceptual basis for the MHC© is the growing understanding of healthy literacy in health promotion and illness management. A key component of overall health literacy is management of health information which can be enhanced with the use of a personal health record (PHR). The content areas for the MHC© include standard health history data and information to provide insight into the impact of illness on one’s life style.
Description: The MHC© was used and evaluated in three research projects with 167 rural elderly or rural dwellers with a chronic health condition. The evaluation included standard scales, e.g., PEPPI - a measure of clients’ confidence in communicating with physicians and questions to tap the usefulness in achieving health maintenance activities.
Outcomes: PEPPI scores for thos ewho used the MHC© increased. On a five point scale the usefulness of the MHC© was rated at 3.94 for “managing illness”, 4.19 “preparing for healthcare visits”, 3.80 “strengthening partnership with providers”, and 4.65 “tracking health information”. They would strongly recommend the MHC© to others and noted the value of having all health information in one place and its acceptance by healthcare providers as an asset in managing treatment.
Conclusions: A useful, low-tech tool, such as the MHC©, has a universal appeal as having a way to better track health progress, being prepared to engage with the health care system, and making more informed decisions is not culturally bound. Facilitating the use of a personal health record is a win-win situation for individuals and for health care providers.
Funding: NINR (2 R01 NR007908-04A1), SC Ministry Foundation, USDA (2008-03860)