Developing Family Healthware, a Family History Screening Tool to Prevent Common Chronic Diseases
2009

Developing Family Healthware: A Tool for Family Health History Screening

publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Yoon Paula W., Scheuner Maren T., Jorgensen Cynthia, Khoury Muin J.

Primary Institution: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Hypothesis

Will personalized prevention messages tailored to familial risk motivate people at risk to change their lifestyles or screening behaviors?

Conclusion

Family Healthware can identify individuals with a strong family history who may need further risk assessment and provides tailored prevention messages.

Supporting Evidence

  • Family history is a significant risk factor for many common diseases.
  • Family Healthware provides personalized prevention messages based on familial risk.
  • Usability testing showed that users preferred a computerized family history tool.

Takeaway

Family Healthware is a tool that helps people understand their family health history to prevent diseases by giving personalized health advice.

Methodology

The tool was developed through formative research, usability testing, and algorithms for risk assessment based on family history.

Limitations

Validation of the tool's risk algorithms is limited due to a lack of comprehensive population-based data.

Participant Demographics

Participants included adults over 45 with family histories of the diseases assessed by the tool.

Statistical Information

Confidence Interval

95% CI, 3.3-7.2

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