Medical Education - Theses
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ItemHealth self-care using self-quantification : a framework for formalising research and practice( 2016)This PhD thesis examines self-quantification using apps and wearable devices –for short, self-quantification systems (SQS) – specifically for health self-care. Health self-quantification (SQ) is a way of working in which, by using SQS, people can collect, manage and reflect on personal health data in order to gain a better understanding of their own body, behaviour, and interaction with the world around them. A literature review found many unknowns about how SQS are used for health self-care, what constructs could describe the use of SQS and related effects on individuals’ health outcomes, and how such effects could be modelled. The key challenge addressed by this thesis is whether the data management and health management activities within health self-quantification and their constructs can be described comprehensively in order to formalise the research and practice of health self-quantification. This thesis has developed a framework called the health SQ activity framework based on activity theory (AT) and patient activation theory (PAT), to address this challenge. Mixed methods were used to build, test and refine the framework. This framework is important because it is the first step to operationalise health SQ fully. This may in turn benefit a variety of stakeholders: biomedical researchers, developers, health informaticians, healthcare professionals, and personal users who seek to study or make changes in health outcomes. Future research using the framework across a range of conditions and contexts will generate more rigorous evidence about health outcomes from SQS use.