The contextual relevancy of the right information
for the right person at the right time, for the right purpose in an online environment
Retha de la Harpe Associate Professor Faculty Informatics & Design Cape Peninsula University of Technology South Africa

Abundance of information today, Available in the global connected world.

INFORMATION
 Those without access to this information are increasingly becoming isolated.  We live in a digital world.

INTRODUCING TECHNOLOGY
 Introducing technology solutions  Addressing information literacy at the same time.

INFORMATION LITERACY

DEFINING INFORMATION QUALITY
 People need the right information at the
right time
for the
right purpose .

DEFINING INFORMATION QUALITY
Information quality is
complex
,
Multidimensional
and has human
involvement
Fit for purpose  What is meant by these quality dimensions?

DEFINITION OF INFORMATION QUALITY
• The right information means that it must have: Meaning Recipient Access Appropriate R-Information Recipient R-Time R-Purpose

ONLINE ENVIRONMENT & CONTEXT
   The online environment The information producer & consumer -in a specific context. The information needs of these people need to be considered. So much information!
So many choices!
What does it all mean?

INFORMATION CONTEXT
In community-based contexts , information intermediaries often provide information to individuals from communities with a
low literacy level.

INFORMATION INTERMEDIARIES
 The information intermediaries typically convey information on an informal basis, via face-to-face meetings, focus groups, or discussions.  This could result in information degradation over time, or prove inadequate for sharing and public dissemination.

COMMUNITY BASED CONTEXTS HEALTH INTERMEDIARIES
• • There is emphasis today on wellbeing through health promotion and disease prevention. More individuals obtain relevant information to enable them manage their own lifestyles.

COMMUNITY BASED CONTEXTS HEALTH INTERMEDIARIES
 In community-based contexts health intermediaries take on the role as information consumers to convey relevant information to the individuals.  Even in these cases the health intermediaries may also not have easy access to relevant information.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
   The context of ubiquitous mobile technology in the Global South Community-oriented information systems Granting universal access –
but is this enough?

Defined as the
ability
to
seek
, find, understand and
appraise health information
from
electronic sources
and
apply
the
knowledge gained
to addressing or solving a
health problem
. Unlike other distinct forms of literacy, eHealth literacy combines facets of literacy skills and applies them to eHealth promotion and care. WHO, 2013

• •
A mobile library support rural schools, early childhood care centres and adult education and resource centre for outreach to Poor communities - rural and urban communities where people are trapped in a perpetual cycle of poverty and unemployment with the appalling social ills such as… substance abuse, family violence, child abuse, disease and crime … amongst others. A mobile library goes out to rural primary schools to improve the reading literacy rates .

The story of a Health Intermediary Health promoter: David
• Completed his Matric; works for NPO in a high-transmission area • Distributes promotional health materials (condoms, pamphlets) • A lot of tense discussions with community members, especially medical male circumcision, unprotected sex, and condom use • Uses paper-based promotional materials; wishes these were more colourful and interactive • He owns a feature mobile phone and uses a pay-as-you-go option. He has limited money available to buy more airtime

– Personal (micro) – Physical (meso) – Socio-economic (macro) – Interactional (dynamic)

Context
Personal (micro) Physical (meso) Socio-economic (macro) Interactional (dynamic)
Information need
Locally defined information about treatment, prevention, and promotion.
Information that supports the services provided, including health facilities, resources, services, partners, and training opportunities in the region.
Information about guidelines, policies, international best practices, and laws.
Information practices; information seeking and behaviour of individuals and groups; experiences when interacting with information objects and with mobile devices, systems or applications.

•
Health intermediaries need
information
their work practices; to support • Currently, the vast amount of health information is not always accessible and locally relevant ; • An intervention may be needed to facilitate the access and use of relevant health information for intermediaries. mHealth has the potential to facilitate this; • Intermediaries’ work practices are influenced by the contexts in which they function;

•
Contextual aspects are complex and need to be unpacked to provide for possible information interventions; • Contexts manifest as both static and dynamic modalities. Example, availability of a phone (static) against using the phone to seek and use information (dynamic).
• In designing mobile interventions, both static and dynamic context considerations are required.

Health and Wellbeing Information
Mobile App Information Space Intermediary Information Practices Information Recipient
Time

1. Determine the
static context
dimensions across three levels:  personal (subjective, experiential realms)   physical (temporal, spatial, material realms) macro (geographic and socio-economic realms) 2. Determine the
dynamic information space
in terms of  information practices   Relations user experiences (the ‘fourth context’) This concerns the
interaction
recipients, especially related to information practices, objects and behaviour.
between intermediaries and

INDEHELA-ISD4D Project –funded by the Academy of Finland