One of the best comments I have heard is that you know when health information technology (HIT) is effective when you do not realize it is being used. I couldn’t agree more—when you are so busy delivering good service and what the patient wants—which varies according to each patient—you do not even notice that technology is a driving process.
So many times, those of us in informatics are asked: What is informatics? A few years back, we would make an attempt to describe examples and people who are engaged in informatics. These days, all you have to do is look around us.
Take for example—the recent American Dietetic Association Foundation (ADAF) Research Awards—There is no mention of “nutrition informatics”, yet here is an example of work underway that is an informatics based project. Read on….and let me know more examples you hear about!
Nobuko Kay Hongu, PhD, MEd, RD, assistant professor and nutrition extension specialist, Department of Nutritional Sciences, The University of Arizona, was announced as the second recipient of the ADA Foundation's Research Endowment Grant focusing on lifestyle interventions for childhood overweight and obesity prevention. Hongu, who has performed other work in nutrition and fitness was announced as the recipient during the Member Showcase at FNCE for her work entitled, i-Challenge!, an Individually Tailored Web-Based Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention using Smart Phone: Randomized Controlled Trial, which is part of the USDA Childhood Obesity Prevention Project, Stealth Health.