The Internet has brought the spirit of global communication and collaboration to nurses and other healthcare professionals in ways never before thought possible. These resources are offered to expand your opportunities for discussion, reference, education, and research.
Developed by the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine, this Web site features some interesting usability options. This is a talking Web site. The text can be narrated by downloading a Java applet and clicking on the area you wish to hear. In addition, the contrast and type size can be adjusted to viewer preferences. There are dozens of videos available for viewing as well as transcripts that either can be read online or can be read to the viewer. Content is primarily disease-related and was developed using research-based guidelines.
MAKING YOUR WEB SITE SENIOR FRIENDLY
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/staffpubs/od/ocpl/agingchecklist.html is a checklist of design tips to maximize readability for older Internet users. At the end of the Web site is a fairly extensive bibliography.
The federal government recently released "Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines" located at http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/Usability_guidelines.pdf. A 128-page pdf manual lists design elements and recommendations based on available research and ranks the guidelines by "Relative Importance and Strength of Evidence."
Is your facility or practice engaged in electronic communication with your patients? The California Health Care Foundation published a report prepared by the First Consulting Group on the tools, techniques, security, and costs involved. Their press release stated "The report, Online Patient-Provider Communication Tools: An Overview, provides a detailed review of electronic communication tools available to physician practices of all sizes; case study summaries on how single, multi-site, and integrated delivery systems use these tools; and vendor lists offering various online communication solutions." You can download the full 39-page report as a pdf file at: http://www.chcf.org/documents/ihealth/PatientProviderCommunicationTools.pdf
The Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org) recently published a qualitative study on physician/patient e-mail. If you haven't seen this Internet-based publication, it's well worth a look. Drawing from a global authorship the articles presented represent current, active topics in healthcare informatics.