Slide deck for 2012 University of Oklahoma Department of Communication Sooner Conference: "Putting Wikis to Work: A pilot case study of CMC in academic health care research communities of practice"
Putting Wikis to Work in an Online Research Environment
1. Michelle C. Farabough
Sooner Conference 2012
Putting Wikis to Work:
A pilotcasestudyofCMC inacademic
healthcareresearchcommunitiesofpractice
2. Framingthe casestudy
• OU-Tulsa School of Community Medicine (Health)
+
• Knowledge Management (Communication)
=
• CDC 2010 National Conference on
Health Communication, Marketing, and Media
3. Theproblem
• Health care research required for faculty and residents
• Time and geographic constraints
• Patient visits and emergencies take precedence
• Email “culture”
• Delayed and uncompleted studies
• Vast amount of information and data
4. Theobjective
• Select appropriate CMC tool
• Identify benefits and barriers to use
• Share lessons learned
• Increase awareness of Web 2.0 CMC
5. Limitations
• Just that… a case study
• Continuous improvement research
• Small n and large number of antecedents
• Emerging technologies
6. Wouldnew socialmedia “work”for
academichealth care researchCoPs?
• Would it be used?
• Would it be perceived as more efficient
than email for collaborative communication and
project management?
10. ResearchDesign
• Communities of Practice
• Chronic Pain
• Clinical and research faculty physicians, residents, and staff from
OU, TU, and Laureate Institute for Brain Research
• No funding or deadline
• Aging in Place
• Clinical and research faculty, staff, and Tulsa community health
service leaders engaged in CBPR
• Seed grant funding and one year deadline
• Resident Patient Care Projects
• Clinical and research faculty physicians,
residents, and staff
• Residency requirement and deadline
12. Identifybenefits and barriers to use
• Sources of information
• Web analytics: access, edit or create content
• Self-administered, anonymous survey: perception
• Key informant open-ended questionnaire: perception
• Informal Analysis
• Quantitative: web analytics and survey questions
• Qualitative: questionnaire
15. Themesfrom key informants
• University culture (cost, IT, PHI security, email)
• Technical savvy
• Training
• Organization of information
• Asynchronous communication
16. Key informantcomments
• “The greatest challenge is getting people who are
committed to use it. For those with no protected time
for research or engagement on a particular research
project, use of the wiki will be minimal at best.”
• “No matter how helpful, you have to have time to
read, follow, and use it.”
• “I was hesitant at first, but now that I have used it
I would recommend it.”
• “Great resource. I didn’t know things like this
existed.”
17. Sharelessons learned
• Consider project needs and users
• Deadlines and funding affect use
• Email is greatest competition
• Key individuals affect use and perceived usefulness
• Increased awareness = first step toward culture change
How it was reported.Invitation to submit case study in George Washington “Cases” journal.How it led me to OU Dept. of Health Communication.
• Faculty physicians, clinicians and residents expected to do research• Scheduling limits possibility of f2f meetings, allowed to work 80 hours/week• Priorities and competing responsibilities—80 hours per week• Email plagued with multiple versions of word docs, unread correspondence, overlooked recipients• Inefficient and frustrating
• Sharepoint or something else?• before widespread implementation, perception that research would be more efficient and less time-consuming and frustrating?
Case study of a real-life initiative—in the style of CASES so that other public health organizations could adopt it Looking at efficiency and efficacy. Residents are busy, slammed for time, overwhelmed with new technology Dean Gerry ClancyStill formulating the best way to evaluate; not many standard measures
Web analyticsSurveys and questionairres
Started at ground floor. This may be the most valuable part of the study.Developed SWOT analysis and Selection Criteria Matrix, which looked at users and had more to do with the technical part—I’ve learned regularly excluded in Comm. ResearchHere are quick visuals. If you’re interest, you can contact me.SWOT to “sell” the culture on the change and Matrix by considering project needs and options for each of these based on available technology
Here are quick visuals. If you’re interest, you can contact me.SWOT to “sell” the culture on the change and Matrix by considering project needs and options for each of these based on available technology
Wiki: “Socially interactive Web-based CMC that allows members to contribute and seamlessly link content, exchange resources, and share information and experiences—the thing that elevates it to ‘knowledge.’ “
Community of practice: Coined recently by Etienne Wenger“Groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” typically to improve performance.
Interesting, but wasn’t specifically looking for these results. Future research should look more carefully into this, especially since it’s widely accepted that physicians are resistant to new technology.AIP used the wiki most… no physicians, but over half were over 35 and over.PCP used the wiki least… nearly all physicians 34 and under.CP pretty evenly mixed, mostly 35 and over
Web analytics: who was using the wiki and for what purposeSurvey: demographics and perceptions about how to use itQuestionnaire: comments for lessons learned
Most accessed content, then edited content—required less technical savvyWide variance because the CPC and CP CoPs had pages created for them.
Info like this came from the surveyConclusion: More a digital library than communication medium.
“The greatest challenge is getting people who are committed to use it. For those with no protected time for research or engagement on a particular research project, use of the wiki will be minimal at best.”“No matter how helpful, you have to have time to read, follow, and use it.”“I was hesitant at first, but now that I have used it I would recommend it.”“Great resource. I didn’t know things like this existed.”
“The greatest challenge is getting people who are committed to use it. For those with no protected time for research or engagement on a particular research project, use of the wiki will be minimal at best.”“No matter how helpful, you have to have time to read, follow, and use it.”“I was hesitant at first, but now that I have used it I would recommend it.”“Great resource. I didn’t know things like this existed.”
Consider CoP communication and project management needs before selecting CMC toolDeadlines and funding affect initial adoption and sustainabilityDetermine strategy for coping with dependence on emailProject manager, wiki cheerleader, and group participation affect overall use and perceived usefulnessIncreased awareness first step toward • Simple user interface is best, especially one in which functionality can be progressively integrated• Like most things, if you have a reason… you’ll use it, otherwise people perceive it as just added work• Email is the number one competitor• Key influencers are necessary… reference CMC class theory