Health websites in Aboriginal context: Principles of conception based on a user-centered approach The case of the Sioux Lookout District

Abstract

This thesis aims to establish the principles that should govern the conception of health websites in Aboriginal context. For Aboriginal Canadians in remote communities, it is essential to gain accurate, reliable and relevant access to health information. Health websites customized to the preferences of users and to the cultural particularities of Aboriginal culture are a possible means to vehicle this information to them. A user-centered approach is used to gather data on the preferences of presentation types and content on health websites for Aboriginal people. Remote focus group sessions were conducted using videoconferencing. Different Web presentation types, mainly videos and text-based Web pages, from Diabetes and COPD websites, are presented to the users during the focus group sessions. A qualitative data analysis is done to examine user preferences and what factors have an influence on those preferences. Key findings include: (1) the type of disease being presented on the websites has an influence on the preferences of users; (2) the preferences of users vary based on the different disease aspects presented; (3) the different factors related to the living location, such as the limited access to healthcare and the Internet, the inaccessibility of certain foods and the diversity of cultures of the different remote communities also affect the preferences of users; (4) users prefer websites to contain elements related to their culture. The findings of this research have allowed for the development of the principles for the conception of health websites. Health website owners should apply these principles to use the appropriate presentation types, add content that is more meaningful to its target audience, and reorganize the content so that the most relevant information is more easily accessible to the users. As a consequence of conducting qualitative research, the main limitation of this research is the small sample size. Future research should be conducted with a larger sample size that is more representative of the general population and of the heterogeneity of Aboriginal culture to confirm the results of this study.