Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications in Child Health (Health ...

5 Special Health Information Needs of Adolescent Care 51
Access to purchase of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and firearms as well as
information to enable their use and misuse
Exposure to inappropriate and/or harmful online relationships
� Exposure to online predators (one in five teens get an unwanted sexual
solicitation)
�
Cyber-bullying
Distraction from activities (such as driving) during use of mobile devices (cell
phones and texting)
Such “new” risk behaviors are often omitted in medical screenings, and therefore
may not addressed. Guidance in reducing these behaviors (through identification
and counseling) in conjunction with novel applications of IT may reduce risks:
Monitoring and limiting
� Television, gaming, online, and computer time
� Internet-based purchases (i.e., credit cards)
Providing guidelines (including teen online behavior contracts)
� Appropriate and inappropriate information exchange
� Types of identifying information that should not be divulged
� When to contact an adult about a problem
� Obscene and/or threatening messages
� Requests for personal meetings
� When not to use IT (cell phones in the car)
Specific applications
� Television/computer time monitors
� Linking online/computer time to physical activities and health monitoring
� Providing direction to sources of reliable health information (MEDLINEplus)
�
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Lockout and blocking of specific Internet sites
� Providing feedback to Internet service providers
5.5 Conclusion
Adolescent medicine provides challenges in clinical data management because of:
The changing clinical information needs as children transition to adults
The security and privacy needs for information access as children grow to the
age of majority and deal with sensitive health issues
The need to consider these issues in designing and implementing health information
systems that address the needs of adolescent patients
References
1. Haggerty RJ. The new morbidity. In: Haggerty RJ, Roghmann KJ, Pless IB, eds. Child Health
and Community. New York: Wiley; 1975.
2. Paperny DM. Computers and information technology: implications for the 21st century. Adol
Med: State Art Rev. 2000;11(1):183–202.