Healthcare information giving services: technologies and everyday practicalities

Abstract

This paper presents findings from observational studies of work practice in two ‘information giving’ services – a poisons information service and a mental health helpline – as a precursor to informing the design of such services. Our work high- lights the interactions that constitute the requesting and giving of information and the role of intermediaries in the delivery of recipient-designed information. We propose a shift of focus from the logic of information in system design to one that encompasses the practicalities of information giving.