Human Factors in Home Health Care

Despite the increase in care delivery within the home, little is understood about the challenges associated with this shift, particularly from a human-factors perspective. It is recognized that homes have not historically been designed for the delivery of health care; that there is large variation in what is considered a home; and that both patients and those who care for them may be at risk for harm when care is administered outside traditional health care environments.

For this project, the National Research Council (NRC) and their Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care conducted research on the role of human factors in the provision of health care in the home. The overarching goal of the project was to examine issues that have arisen around behavioral and human-factors with the increase of care that is now given in private homes.

The main objectives of the project were to:

• Produce a consensus report identifying and discussing major human-factor issues in home health care.
• Produce a brief companion designer’s guide for home-based consumer health IT.

To inform this research, the study team conducted a workshop among experts on the human-factors aspects of home health care. The workshop informed the development of a guide titled “Consumer Health Information Technology in the Home: A Guide for Human Factors Design Considerations.” The guide was created to help those who design and develop consumer health IT applications. It includes an overview of both health and health care in the home, including the individuals involved and the roles they play. It also presents strategies to make consumer health technologies more useful and acceptable to users.

In addition to the guide, the project team also published a book titled “Health Care Comes Home: The Human Factors.” The book reviews the current knowledge base around health care in the home and examines the impact of emerging trends and technologies. It identifies design issues and the imbalance of technological system demands and the capabilities of the users of these systems. The authors present recommendations that cover the regulation of health care technologies, training and preparation for providers of care in the home, better designs of care in the home, and recommendations on how current housing can be modified for health care delivery. The book also includes a review of existing knowledge gaps and how those gaps can be filled via research and development strategies.