Cancer compass: Examining personal health record usage among breast cancer survivors

As personal health records (PHRs) become more common, they have the potential to become a critical tool for breast cancer survivors. Our research has identified a hierarchy of needs that could be addressed, in part, through PHR capabilities. While breast cancer survivors are expected to receive many benefits from using PHRs, little is known about how people will use and adopt this technology. In order to gain a better understanding of the potential uses and pitfalls for PHRs, we will give 80 breast cancer survivors mobile PHR systems and monitor their usage over the course of two months. We will investigate the motivational factors that lead to PHR adoption and the correlations between system usage, self-efficacy and locus of control. Our goal is to understand if PHRs have the potential to successfully engage breast cancer survivors with their daily health practices.