Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Universität Erlangen, Nürnberg, 2006. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-258).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 2010. Thesis (M.L.I.S.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Master of Library and Information Studies, Humanities Computing Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta. "Spring 2010." Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on April 27, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Research paper (M.L.I.S.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xvii, 270 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-270). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 153 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-127). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-93).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-163).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed October 20, 2009). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The NHS is providing patients with access to summaries of their individual health records, so that they can understand and manage their conditions more effectively. At the same time, the government is encouraging patients to be more involved in the decisions made about their direction of care, as evidence shows that outcomes improve if decision-making is shared. As the Internet grows, people are using it as a major source of health information. However, anybody can post information to the Internet, and there is no guarantee that it is reliable, accurate, based on research, or relevant. Therefore, people searching online for health information, using generic search engines, are at risk of finding information that may have a detrimental effect on their health and wellbeing. The aim of this research is to produce a model of a multi-approach evidence-based, post-diagnosis support system for patients and carers in England. The literature review carried out by the author identified 300 papers which looked at both the importance of patient participation in decision-making, and the issues with finding and using health information for patients and carers, but not together in the same research. While much has been written about evidence based practice for health professionals, there is a gap in the research about evidence-based patient choice and information service provision and skills for the general public. This is an issue for health professionals because patients are being actively encouraged to participate in the choices made about their treatment, but while there is evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of patient participation, there is no evidence to say that they have adequate access to information and the skills to use it. Health services need to know if there is appropriate information support for the general public, otherwise there is a risk that patients will not have the right information to help them make the best choice. To assess the information-seeking behaviour of the general public, a mixed-study analysis was performed using quantitative and qualitative surveys, and 139 responses were collected and analysed. The population included people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and their carers. The evidence and the survey results confirmed that people do want to make decisions with their doctor, and that they do search for information, but do not always find what they are looking for. They said that they would value librarian support and information skills training, but would also find an all-encompassing consumer health information web-site useful. A consumer health information literacy framework was developed based on the existing SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Literacy framework and the five steps to evidence based practice concept. This framework provided the foundation for the design and development of COCO, an innovative model to facilitate access to high quality consumer health information using existing NHS online information products combined with the information skills of public and medical librarians. The innovations of COCO are that it focuses on the whole population, supports those who are and are not computer literate, creates an opportunity for collaboration within the library sector, and builds on existing NHS online resources rather than creating new ones. COCO provides people with a central access point to reliable and relevant online consumer health information to help them make informed decisions about their care pathway. The collaborative element of the model ensures that is accessible to everyone, without incurring significant costs to public services. The main output from this research synthesis, is an original needs-based model (COCO), designed to simplify the consumer health information-seeking process for the general public, enabling them to access the right information to fulfil their information needs and help them make evidence-based treatment decisions with their doctors. The design of COCO was reviewed, validated and improved using structured opinions of experts in consumer health information, evidence based practice, information literacy, and information technology. Real-life consumer scenarios were used to manually test COCO against free text searches in Google. The search results from COCO and Google were analysed and compared using six validation metrics. This demonstrated the efficiency of COCO in providing significantly better quality information relevant to patients and carers, compared to Google. A mock-up of the final design and search results of COCO were then prepared, along with recommendations for future research.