A Workflow Based Self-care Management System

Designing and developing computer-based self-care tools faces challenges for modeling self-care decision making processes and monitoring self-care activities. In this paper, a simplified conceptual model for self-care decision making is presented and a workflow based self-care management system is proposed to implement the process-oriented monitoring. Self-care knowledge of specific conditions is derived from consumer guidelines. Consumers' preferences on self-care are taken into consideration through the customization and implementation of the hierarchical self-care workflow. An application of workflow based self-care management system in the implementation of Dermatology Diagnosis and Self-care Tool (DDST) is also discussed. The proposed methodology of workflow based self-care management provides the potential for information integration between computer-based self-care tools and hospital information systems. In addition, the detailed self-care records obtained from the workflow management system make it possible for quantitative analysis of self-care activities and critical evaluation of the effect of computer-based self-care tools on healthcare outcomes.