JMIR Human Factors

(Re-)designing health care and making health care interventions and technologies usable, safe, and effective.

Editor-in-Chief:

Andre Kushniruk, BA, MSc, PhD, FACMI, School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Canada


Impact Factor 2.6 CiteScore 3.4

JMIR Human Factors (JHF, ISSN 2292-9495, Journal Impact Factor™ 2.6 (Journal Citation Reports™ from Clarivate, 2023)) is a multidisciplinary journal with contributions from design experts, medical researchers, engineers, and social scientists.

JMIR Human Factors focuses on understanding how the behaviour and thinking of humans can influence and shape the design of health care interventions and technologies, and how the design can be evaluated and improved to make health care interventions and technologies usable, safe, and effective. This includes usability studies and heuristic evaluations, studies concerning ergonomics and error prevention, design studies for medical devices and healthcare systems/workflows, enhancing teamwork through Human Factors based teamwork training, measuring non-technical skills in staff like leadership, communication, situational awareness and teamwork, and healthcare policies and procedures to reduce errors and increase safety.

JMIR Human Factors focuses aspires to lead health care towards a culture of "usability by design", as well as to a culture of testing, error-prevention and safety, by promoting and publishing reports rigorously evaluating the usability and human factors aspects in health care, as well as encouraging the development and debate on new methods in this emerging field. Possible contributions include usability studies and heuristic evaluations, studies concerning ergonomics and error prevention, design studies for medical devices and healthcare systems/workflows, enhancing teamwork through human factors-based teamwork training, measuring non-technical skills in staff like leadership, communication, situational awareness and teamwork, and healthcare policies and procedures to reduce errors and increase safety. Reviews, viewpoint papers and tutorials are as welcome as original research.

All articles are professionally copyedited and typeset.

JMIR Human Factors is indexed in National Library of Medicine (NLM)/MEDLINE, PubMed, PubMed Central, DOAJ, Scopus, Sherpa Romeo, PsychINFO, and the Web of Science (WoS)/ESCI.

Recent Articles

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Design and Usability of Consumer Health Tech and Home Monitoring Devices

Dementia management presents a significant challenge for individuals affected by it, including their families, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Digital applications may support those living with dementia, however only few dementia-friendly applications exist. This paper emphasizes the necessity of considering multiple perspectives to ensure the high-quality development of supportive healthcare apps. The findings underscore the importance of incorporating input from stakeholders, and the needs of affected families into app development. A qualitative approach was chosen, consisting of three interviews and an expert workshop. The interviews and the workshop were recorded, transcribed and qualitative content analysis was carried out according to the methodology described by Kuckartz with the support of MAXQDA. During the development phases of the app, team meetings and discussions took place. General practitioners and family caregivers play pivotal roles in the treatment and care of Persons with Dementia, often expressing specific preferences and suggestions regarding supportive assistive technologies. Moreover, successful development of a useful tablet application requires robust scientific, multidisciplinary discussions, and teamwork within the healthcare community. Furthermore, adopting a spiral development approach inclusive of feedback loops is imperative for iterative refinement and enhancement of the application.

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Design and Usability of Websites for Special User Groups

Homework is implemented with variable effectiveness in real-world therapy settings, indicating a need for innovative solutions to homework challenges. We developed Adhere.ly, a user-friendly, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act–compliant web-based platform to help therapists implement homework with youth clients and their caregivers. The initial version had limited functionality, was designed for youth clients and their caregivers, and required expanding available features and exercises to suit adult clients.

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Focus Groups and Qualitative Research for Human Factors Research

Emergency nurses actively manage the flow of patients through emergency departments. Patient flow management is complex, cognitively demanding work that shapes the timeliness, efficiency, and safety of patient care. Research exploring nursing patient flow management is limited. A comprehensive analysis of emergency nursing work systems is needed to improve patient flow work processes.

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Focus Groups and Qualitative Research for Human Factors Research

Postpartum depression (PPD) is more common among pregnant patients who have unmet social needs, such as financial stress or food insecurity, compared to those who do not. Mothers and Babies (MB) is a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based program that prevents up to 50% of de novo PPD when provided in-person to low-income Spanish- and English-speaking pregnant people without depression. MB’s reach has been limited by the need for trained personnel to support the program. Transforming MB into a smartphone application (app) may mitigate this key barrier to scaling MB.

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Focus Groups and Qualitative Research for Human Factors Research

Pain and its adequate treatment are an issue in hospitals and emergency departments (ED). A virtual reality (VR) tool to manage pain could act as a valuable complement to common pharmaceutical analgesics. While efficacy could be shown in previous studies, this does not assure clinical adoption in emergency departments.

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Focus Groups and Qualitative Research for Human Factors Research

General Medical Practitioners (GPs) and other staff at primary care medical practices have an important role in facilitating patient access to online services in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. These services range from online ordering of repeat prescriptions to conducting online consultations with healthcare professionals. We have defined ‘digital facilitation’ as that range of processes, procedures and personnel which seeks to support patients in their uptake and use of online services

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Design and Usability of Consumer Health Tech and Home Monitoring Devices

When older adults (OAs) can no longer live independently at home, they have the option to choose from various types of geriatric care institutions, such as residential facilities or nursing homes. For several years now, thanks to the development of interactive television (iTV), social link functions have been accessible directly on televisions, tools that are already integrated into residents’ rooms. The acceptance of technologies specifically targeting older users, as well as iTV, has been widely documented in the literature, incorporating factors from the innovation resistance model.

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Attitudes, Beliefs, and Health Behaviours in Human Factors Research

Morning emotions can significantly affect daily wellness. While many studies have analyzed daily survey responses to identify factors influencing morning emotions, these methods require additional time and effort from individuals for emotional monitoring.

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Reviews on Human Factors

Wearable devices (WDs) have evolved beyond simple fitness trackers to sophisticated health monitors capable of measuring vital signs, such as heart rate and blood oxygen levels. Their application in healthcare, particularly medication management, is an emerging field poised to significantly enhance patient adherence to treatment regimens. Despite their widespread use and increasing incorporation into clinical trials, a comprehensive review of WDs in terms of medication adherence has not been conducted.

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Attitudes, Beliefs, and Health Behaviours in Human Factors Research

A 2017 survey of patient perspectives showed overall willingness and comfort to use telemedicine, but low actual use. Given recent growth and widespread exposure of patients to telemedicine, patient preferences are likely to have changed.

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Design and Usability of Consumer Health Tech and Home Monitoring Devices

Current methods of monitoring cognition in older adults are insufficient to address the growing burden of Alzheimer disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). New approaches that are sensitive, scalable, objective, and reflective of meaningful functional outcomes are direly needed. Mobility trajectories and geospatial life space patterns reflect many aspects of cognitive and functional integrity and may be useful proxies of age-related cognitive decline.

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