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The development of a reference database of health information resources to facilitate informed lifestyle choice

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dc.contributor.advisor Meyer, H. W. J. en
dc.contributor.advisor Cloete, Linda Maria en
dc.contributor.author Cottrell, Genevieve Lee en
dc.date.accessioned 2009-08-25T10:59:02Z
dc.date.available 2009-08-25T10:59:02Z
dc.date.issued 2009-08-25T10:59:02Z
dc.date.submitted 2008-06-30 en
dc.identifier.citation Cottrell, Genevieve Lee (2009) The development of a reference database of health information resources to facilitate informed lifestyle choice, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2018> en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2018
dc.description.abstract This study investigates, within the current health care situation, the interrelationship of the user, resources and tool in the design of a prototype WELLNESS database-driven web site. A shift has taken place in health care, in which the base of conventional medicine has broadened to integrate other systems, practices and worldviews. These include complementary and alternative medicine, health promotion, disease prevention and wellness. Emphasis is placed on the need to take personal responsibility for one's own health and wellness. The global burden of chronic disease, reaching epidemic proportions, is increasingly linked to risk factors resulting from personal lifestyle choices. The growing evidence of the user's need to make personal, informed, lifestyle choices and their reliance on the Web for health information, required investigation. WELLNESS, a specific orientation to health and wellness, formed the framework within which the user and resources were defined and the tool designed. The user was profiled as the WELLNESS health information seeker, hereby contributing significantly to an understanding of the user in this new context. The user profile informed the establishment of resource selection criteria and tool design. The identification of WELLNESS content selection criteria, within a five-dimensional model, was required to ensure quality, relevant and credible resources. The tool is comprised of the WELLNESS thesaurus and WELLNESS database-driven web site. The WELLNESS thesaurus was constructed based on a combination of relevant thesauri. It will be used as an indexing tool. An investigation of existing health information web sites highlighted the importance of designing a specific WELLNESS database-driven web site. A database host was identified against which the original study's conceptual schema was assessed. A low-fidelity prototype web site was designed as the interface between the WELLNESS health information seeker and the database of WELLNESS health information resources. This study has epidemiological, philosophical, epistemological, sociological and psychological relevance. The provision of access to WELLNESS health information resources, made available in the WELLNESS database-driven web site, for personal, informed lifestyle choice by the WELLNESS health information seeker could potentially contribute to the reduction of the global burden of chronic disease. en
dc.format.extent 1 online resource (xvii, 500 leaves)
dc.language.iso en en
dc.subject User studies en
dc.subject Information science en
dc.subject Information behaviour en
dc.subject Database-driven web site design en
dc.subject Health information seeker en
dc.subject Wellness en
dc.subject Lifestyle en
dc.subject Chronic disease prevention en
dc.subject Web site design en
dc.subject Database design en
dc.subject Health information resources en
dc.subject Consumer health informatics en
dc.subject Thesaurus construction en
dc.subject User-centred design en
dc.subject.ddc 025.0661
dc.subject.lcsh Information storage and retrieval systems -- Medical care -- Design
dc.subject.lcsh Electronic reference services (Libraries)
dc.subject.lcsh Medical care -- Electronic information resources
dc.subject.lcsh Health -- Electronic information resources
dc.subject.lcsh Online databases
dc.subject.lcsh Information retrieval
dc.subject.lcsh Electronic information resource searching
dc.title The development of a reference database of health information resources to facilitate informed lifestyle choice en
dc.type Thesis en
dc.description.department Information Science en
dc.description.degree D.Litt. et Phil. (Information Science) en


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