Cognitive Aids: Design Suggestions for the Medical Field

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bedwell WL ; Fletcher KA
• Description:
  The high task and emotional demands of healthcare drain individual cognitive, affective, and physical resources. When these resources are depleted, practitioners are no longer able to vigilantly prevent system-based errors from occurring. Cognitive aids have frequently been suggested-and implemented-as a method to reduce the cognitive load associated with medical practice. Although cognitive aids can offer true benefits, haphazard implementation and overuse has led to "checklist fatigue." To avoid this misuse and to maximize the benefits of these beneficial tools, we suggest that cognitive aids should be clear, easy to use, adaptable to the context, properly trained prior to implementation, pilot tested, and based on a needs-analysis. Furthermore, it appears that best practices for one type of cognitive aid in one context cannot necessarily be generalized to another. Therefore, this qualitative synthesis of the literature aims to provide three contextual factors to consider when addressing an issue with a cognitive aid. Designers and administrators need to consider the skill type that will be addressed, the physical, social, and organizational environment in which the aid will be utilized, as well as the experience level of the targeted users. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Delivery Of Health Care Health Personnel Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Cognitive Function Emotional Stress Health Care Medical Care Medical Personnel Mental Stress Physical Properties Physical Stress Psychological Stress Sociological Factors Task Performance

  More +
• ISSN:
  2327-8595
• Publisher:
  Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  148-152
• Volume:
  3
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063057
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care: Advancing the Cause, March 16-19, 2014, Chicago, Illinois. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2014 Jun; 3(1):148-152
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Sunshine Education and Research Center, University of South Florida
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care: Advancing the Cause, March 16-19, 2014, Chicago, Illinois
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1ce17e487afc2154bb4a3f2cd7a141347f194eb3085368e821f199517bf31e6a1d135e1468c99726243751978ab8908ec08592e56b52979dd517208d34c25229
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226186/cdc_226186_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 640.73 KB ]