The Sociological Perspective of Users' Invisible Work: A Qualitative Research Framework for Studying Digital Health...

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Health Informatics
• Technology Adoption

Background:

• Digital health innovations face resistance due to integration challenges within existing care pathways.
• User adjustments and reshaping of context are crucial for successful technology implementation.
• Invisible adaptation work by users significantly impacts innovation success and transformation of care practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a sociological framework for studying the use of new health technologies.
• To qualitatively analyze tasks and activities users perform to integrate technologies into daily routines.
• To understand the role of health professionals and patients in technology adoption.

Main Methods:

• A three-part method was used to develop a theoretical model for studying users' invisible work.
• Includes a thematic literature review of sociological studies on digital health integration.
• Extends the review to define and apply the concept of users' invisible work, creating a framework for analysis.

Main Results:

• Proposes a framework with four dimensions: organizational, interactional, practical, and experiential.
• Each dimension includes criteria for comparative analysis of user work across different health technologies.
• Identifies key factors influencing the integration and success of digital health tools.

Conclusions:

• The developed framework serves as an analytical tool for research protocols.
• It can guide the identification of less visible adoption criteria for digital health technologies.
• Highlights the importance of understanding user adaptation in the digital health landscape.