Human-Computer Interaction, Ethics, and Biomedical Informatics

Abstract

Objectives: To provide an overview of recent work at the intersection of Biomedical Informatics, Human-Computer Interaction, and Ethics. Methods: Search terms for Human-Computer Interaction, Biomedical Informatics, and Ethics were used to identify relevant papers published between 2017 and 2019.Relevant papers were identified through multiple methods, including database searches, manual reviews of citations, recent publications, and special collections, as well as through peer recommendations. Identified articles were reviewed and organized into broad themes. Results: We identified relevant papers at the intersection of Biomedical Informatics, Human-Computer Interactions, and Ethics in over a dozen journals. The content of these papers was organized into three broad themes: ethical issues associated with systems in use, systems design, and responsible conduct of research. Conclusions: The results of this overview demonstrate an active interest in exploring the ethical implications of Human-Computer Interaction concerns in Biomedical Informatics. Papers emphasizing ethical concerns associated with patient-facing tools, mobile devices, social media, privacy, inclusivity, and e-consent reflect the growing prominence of these topics in biomedical informatics research. New questions in these areas will likely continue to arise with the growth of precision medicine and citizen science.

“In a Way We Took the Hospital Home”—A Descriptive Mixed-Methods Study of Parents’ Usage and Experiences of eHealth for Self-Management after Hospital Discharge Due to Pediatric Surgery or Preterm Birth

“…Results from interviews as well as statistics on the numbers of messages and images over 24 h, corroborate that the eHealth device enabled flexibility and a facilitated equal and effective communication. This study thereby adds to the knowledge of ethical implications of human-computer interaction in relation to systems in use and design [ 29 ].…”

“…Furthermore, features of each group (prematurity or surgery) were analyzed, including daily reports and the number of weight measurements entered by the families and sent for review by professionals at the hospital. 31 (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42) Two to eight weeks after the parents had returned the eHealth device, they were contacted for an individual semi-structured interview. Contact was made by email followed up by telephone calls.…”

Combining physical and virtual worlds for motor-cognitive training interventions: Position paper with guidelines on technology classification in movement-related research

“…Generally, HCI is an interdisciplinary field of study that examines the interface between a digital device and the user. Human capabilities, goal-directed experiences, graphical interfaces, and context are the main HCI components ( Hochheiser and Valdez, 2020 ). Although each of these components requires specific mention, further discussion of each component is beyond the scope of this paper, which focuses solely on the context related to communication between the user and the device.…”

Respect as an Ethical Principle in System Development

“…For example, considering the systems in use, obviously ethical considerations should not be neglected, on the contrary, one should be prepared to identify and remedy them. However, when ethical issues occur that may not have been identified in advance before the development or deployment of the system, researchers have used quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze incidents, failures or a set of previous experiences in order to identify issues or perspectives that may help avoid future difficulties [20].…”