The Dark Side of Health Informatics: Some Insights from the Humanities and Social Sciences

Catherine Schryer
Associate Professor, Department of English Language and Literature
Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence
University of Waterloo

November 21, 2007
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Davis Centre 1304, University of Waterloo

View Video of Presentation in HI Alive Archive: Research Seminars Archive 2007-2008

Abstract

This talk summarizes research in Healthcare Education and Communication that challenges some of the assumptions of Health Informatics. Using the work of Engeström and Latour, social scientists who focus on the role of technological tools in workplaces as well as recent work by Varpio, Schryer and Lingard on Electronic Patient Records (EMR), this talk suggests that technologies such as EMR can have unintended consequences for both patients and healthcare providers. The talk concludes with some suggestions for a more careful introduction of EMRs and EPRs into healthcare workplaces.

About the Speaker

Catherine Schryer has a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition Studies, with interests in advanced literacies in the professions as well as education and healthcare communication. She specializes in professional writing, composition and rhetoric, and genre theory. She is especially interested in qualitative research techniques as well as genre research and the development of on-line courses. Dr. Schryer has published in such journals as Written Communication, Textual Studies in Canada, Technostyle, Journal of Advanced Composition, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, and Social Science and Medicine. She also has an interest in writing across the curriculum and together with Laurence Steven has published Contextual Literacy: Writing Across the Curriculum and Towards Writing Across the Curriculum. She is presently engaged in several collaborative, SSHRC funded projects constructing case studies that investigate discourse in medical settings and online learning in professional contexts. She recently received the National Council of Teachers of English award (2001) for Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication. She is also the Director of the Centre for Teaching Excellence, where she provides leadership in the promotion, development, and advancement of excellence in teaching and learning at the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining the Centre, Catherine was Director of the University of Waterloo's Teaching Resources Office.