Compared nursing home use of 3,316 residents of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) with that of general elderly population. CCRC residents had greater lifetime risk of nursing home entry and repeat entries, while their length of stay per admission was shorter. Findings illustrate nursing home use in insured and managed long-term care…

Examines the effectiveness of an installation guide for an online help computer software product. Finds that customers thought the guide was clear and easy to understand and reduced the need to call the help desk. Notes that customers who said that they were calling less had in fact reduced their help calls by 80%. (RS)

Discusses categories of document testing, importance of reader-based testing, measures in usability testing, and issues in implementing document testing. (SR)

Examined usage patterns (i.e., caller and telephone call characteristics) from 1985 through 1989 at a university-based, peer-operated hotline. Collected data on calls to the hotline for the years under examination. Data analysis revealed the importance of examining both sex differences and differences between repeat and nonrepeat callers.…

Identifies and describes strategies used throughout Texas for overcoming barriers to service use among low-income minority elderly persons. Describes strategies addressing lack of knowledge (use of influential groups, working with significant individuals, media use), lack of access (transportation, affordability, availability), and lack of intent…

Used secondary data sources to examine relative importance of geographic mobility as factor affecting use of Veterans Administration (VA) health services by older veterans. Found that variation in state VA health service admission rates was better explained primarily by characteristics of resident nonmobile veteran population and characteristics…

Many studies examining health service utilization by older adults involve secondary analyses of existing data sources and rely on behavioral model of health services utilization. Suggests that severe shortcomings in breadth and depth of available data, and numbers of intervals at which data have been recorded, limit understanding of health…

Explores possible uses of electronic mail in three areas of the academic setting: instruction, research, and administration. Electronic mail is defined, the components needed to get started with electronic mail are discussed, and uses and benefits of electronic mail in diverse educational environments are suggested. (12 references) (DB)

Used data from 1982-84 National Long-Term Care Channeling Demonstration to examine factors associated with long-term care service use by African American, Hispanic, and white frail elders living in community. Findings indicated that, in addition to predisposing, enabling, and need factors, race/ethnicity was significant predictor of each type of…

Examines roles technical communicators play in designing and developing information systems, especially online help. Surveys technical communicators, developers, and users. Finds users of systems for which the online help was written by a technical communicator used the online help more often and rated the quality of that help higher. Discusses…

Finds that favorable attitudes toward innovation and change, computer self-efficacy, and computer experience directly and positively influence e-mail use; and that attitudes toward innovation and change influence (moderate) the relationship between social context and e-mail selection and use. Points to the need for a more comprehensive and complex…

Investigates the effectiveness of information design principles and feedback-based usability testing in developing clinical questionnaires. Finds that a form developed using information design principles collected significantly more data than did a control form. (SR)

Describes the Information SubTypes and Effects (ISTE) approach, which measures the relationship between the design of a document and the way users handle it. Positions the ISTE method within the broader context of usability testing. Describes its basic approach and some recent applications. Demonstrates that ISTE is a viable instrument for…

Discusses how libraries can gather data on the use of their Web sites. Highlights include Web server log files, including the common log file, referrer log file, and agent log file; log file limitations; privacy concerns; and choosing log analysis software, both free and commercial. (LRW)

Describes and illustrates a distributed approach to usability (envisioning usability across the genres, practices, uses, and goals of a given activity) using a four-decade examination of a traffic accident location and analysis system. Uses the theoretical framework of "genre ecologies" to show how communities of users interact with…