Design for Health: Applications of Human Factors

Design for Health: Applications of Human Factors is a comprehensive guide that delves into the critical and emerging issues in healthcare and patient safety. It highlights the role of human factors and ergonomics in the healthcare domain, utilizing the Design for X (DfX) methodology to discuss a wide range of contexts, technologies, and population-dependent criteria (Xs) that must be considered in the design of a safe and usable healthcare ecosystem.

Each chapter in the book discusses a specific topic, such as mHealth, medical devices, emergency response, global health, and more, reviewing the concept and presenting a case study that demonstrates how human factors techniques and principles are utilized for the design, evaluation, or improvements to specific tools, devices, and technologies, healthcare systems and environments, and applications to special populations.

This book represents an essential resource for researchers in academia as well as practitioners in medical device industries, consumer IT, and hospital settings. It covers a range of topics from medication reconciliation to self-care to the artificial heart, providing specific design guidelines for a wide range of topics including resilience, stress and fatigue management, and emerging technologies. It also examines special populations, such as the elderly and the underserved, bringing a multidisciplinary, multi-industry approach to a wide range of healthcare human factors issues.

With its comprehensive approach and practical examples, Design for Health: Applications of Human Factors is an invaluable resource for anyone working in the healthcare industry or interested in improving patient safety and healthcare outcomes.