Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology
School of Information Technology
Department of Informatics
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
In 2003, the South African government commenced an Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) programme in selected clinics throughout the country. This programme places considerable strain on health staff, as treatment centres often have to contend with insufficient human resources and escalating numbers of patients requesting ART.
The pressure is further compounded by the fact that government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) frequently request medical statistical data or demographic information from treatment centres – and this information is often not readily available.
An important step towards improving the level of service and addressing the lack of reliable information is the establishment of an appropriate Hospital Information System (HIS).
Such a system would contain data on patients’ medical details, and would be able to produce quick and accurate clinical, demographic and medical statistical reports. It would therefore make a valuable contribution towards reducing the workload of staff at ART centres.
A shortcoming of many information systems is that they are not designed to be an integral part of the day-to-day work activities of the organisations in which they are to function.
Maria de Freitas and Dr Elaine Byrne of the Department of Informatics conducted a study aimed at finding ways of addressing this shortcoming. They investigated the use of Activity Theory – a theory that emerged from nineteenth century psychology, and that stresses the importance of taking into account a person’s interaction with the physical environment when attempting to understand his or her behaviour – to promote the adoption of a more holistic view during the design of information systems.
During their research, they used the Activity Analysis and Development (ActAD) model as an analytical tool for the design and development of an information system for an anti-retroviral treatment (ART) clinic.
This model succeeded in highlighting the challenges faced by ART centres with their current information systems, and also assisted in representing what users require from such a system. Their results confirmed the usefulness of Activity Theory as a tool for information systems development
Contact person: Ms E Byrne.
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