Healthcare Informatics & Technology
1. What were the goals of the Cure4Kids program in 2003? How have they evolved?

Cure4Kids was developed with the overall intention of treating and hence improving the wellbeing of children suffering from pediatric cancer and AIDA (Quintana, Nambayan, Ribeiro, Bowers, Shuler and O’Brein, 2003). Towards this end, in addition to education, the other stated objective of Cure4Kids was the provision of “tools for communications and collaborations among individuals” (Quintana, et al. 2003, p. 978). To effectively fulfill this mandate, Cure4Kids’ website at this point contained online seminars as well as lectures presented in two main formats, i.e. audio-enabled PowerPoints and video streaming. Essentially, the website also contained tools for online conferencing. This effectively enabled health care professionals, particularly those in countries with limited resources, to not only access the relevant materials, but also collaborate in meaningful ways in an attempt to rein in pediatric cancer and AIDS.

Over the last few years, the goals of Cure4Kids have evolved. Today, Cure4Kids is a fully fledged online resource that primarily concerns itself with the provision of the relevant tools and knowhow to healthcare professionals with an intention of promoting the care and wellbeing of children suffering from cancer and other diseases deemed life-threatening. Unlike was the case in 2003, Cure4Kids now has resources tailored for other target groups as well. For instance, we now have Cure4Kids with resources tailored for parents and kids. Further, students training to become healthcare professionals also have a dedicated page where they can access free content on pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. When it comes to collaboration, the Cure4Kids program has incorporated Working Groups whose participants essentially “discuss difficult patient cases in Pediatric Oncology, work on new protocols, and conduct research activities” (Cure4Kids, 2019).

2. How are they leveraging information technology to meet their goals? How have they expanded this compared with what was in the assigned AMIA paper?

In essence, professionals from countries having limited resources find it difficult to access the relevant tools and knowhow to address a host of health challenges. This is more so the case given the costs associated with access to the relevant information on a diverse set of healthcare concerns. Cure4Kids leverages information technology in a way that effectively eliminates this cost factor. This is more so the case given that its “online training and collaboration tools are freely available to registered users” (Cure4Kids, 2019). Unlike was the case in 2003, Cure4Kids now makes it cost effective for other groups (i.e. patents, kids, and students) to access the relevant health information as well. Next, it should also be noted that in some instances, language barriers get in the way of the effective delivery of care. The health concerns that Cure4Kids targets afflict children from across the world. The fact that different jurisdictions utilize diverse languages as their preferred mode of communication could get in the way of access to quality resources available in other standard languages, i.e. English. In that regard, therefore, the only way to ensure that the tools and knowhow on various topics are beneficial across the board is...…Audience/users: the demographics of the audience/users would be considerate so as to ensure that the content and functionalities provided are not only relevant but also appropriate. The audience/users would also dictate the languages to be incorporated.

· Cost: The cost of not only developing but also maintaining the resource would be taken into consideration. This is more so the case given the need to ensure that we do not have down-times at any point after the successful launch of the same.

· Continuity: To sufficiently fulfill its mandate, the resource would have to be a ‘going concern.’ It would be expected to continue in operation into the foreseeable future. To ensure that this is achieved, the relevance of maintaining constant flow of the relevant resources and promotion of healthy engagements cannot be overstated.

D: A list of risks and/or issues that you might encounter with your envisioned effort

My envisioned effort could encounter some challenges. These have been identified as poor reception, funding issues, and legal concerns. With regard to poor reception, it should be noted that the target audience/users could show little interest in the online resource – effectively frustrating its mandate. When it comes to funding issues, there are no guarantees at present that sponsors will be found to underwrite the smooth operation of the resource. Lastly, it is important to note that given that the online resource will be dealing with the topics of health and wellbeing, there is the risk of lawsuits originating from the consumers of health information as a result of adverse reactions.

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