Contemplating public policy in HIV/AIDS online content, then where is the technology spirit?

Abstract

Adaptive structuration theory (AST) has long been an accepted framework for investigating structures within technological artifacts and work environments. Information systems, organization science and communication scholars have prefaced AST context in terms of collaborative, group decision support systems. The social structures, however, can be characterized by features of rules, resources and capabilities along with a communicative spirit. Spirit is said to enable the user to better understand and interpret the meaning of a technology. Our research varies from the traditional focus of AST studies given that our context is not in single, for-profit organization with a common corporate mission or objective. Rather, we concentrate on the HIV/AIDS pandemic among Black women and the spirit communicated to this population by a principal government healthcare website. By interacting with a group of healthcare experts and practitioners during a 14-month period, we sought to understand the site's meaning and indications as its mission is to disseminate HIV/AIDS and other pertinent medical information. Further, our findings suggest that AST is a research framework that functions as a source for the notion of spirit. The (un)intended spirit inscribed on information and communication technologies (ICT) may be (ex)inclusive with regard to the population or society it intends to serve. Hence, grassroots approaches and audiences can, in fact, offer effective insight into user-centered designs focused on educational and prevention content among those most affected and infected by chronic diseases, such as HIV.

Keywords:

• adaptative structuration theory
• Black women
• HIV/AIDS
• cultural competency
• public policy

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fay Cobb Payton

About the authors

Fay Cobb Payton is an Associate Professor of Information Systems/Technology at North Carolina State University. She was recently named an American Council on Education Fellow. Her research interests include healthcare informatics (AIDS/HIV among African American and sub-Saharan African populations; health disparities), data management (data analytics and quality) and social exclusion (including the digital divide/equity and STEM pathways). She has published in Journal of the AIS, The Information Society, Journal of Organizational Computing and EC, IEEE Transactions, Communications of the ACM, Health Care Management Review, Computer Personnel, Information and Management, Decision Sciences Journal on Innovative Education, Computers and Society and International Journal of Technology Management. She is currently serving as a member of the NCSU Advisory Board for the Women in Science and Engineering Program and was named the first SAS Fellow in 2007. She has served as the Vice-Chair of the Association of Information Systems SIG-Health is an active member of the IEEE Medical Technology Policy group. She is the co-Editor of the Health Care section for the African Journal of Information Systems. Dr. Payton is the co-editor of a Journal of the Association of Information Systems Special issue on Healthcare: People and Processes and is co-editor of the textbook, Adaptive Health Management Information Systems. She is part of a research team that received an NSF ADVANCE grant at North Carolina State University. She has actively served in an advisory role for the Ph.D. Project and the project's IS Doctoral Student Association.

James Kiwanuka-Tondo

James Kiwanuka-Tondo, Ph.d. (NCSU) is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Public Relations program in the Department of Communication at North Carolina State University. He is also a member of the N C State Faculty Senate. His main area of research is health communication campaigns with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS. His major contribution has been the building of the first ever quantitative model of relationships between organizational factors, campaign planning, and campaign execution variables. He has also studied the influence of HIV/AIDS public policy on the organizations and preventive strategies to reduce HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Dr. Kiwanuka-Tondo received the award for Outstanding Graduate Teacher of the Year, Department of Communication, 2007/2008; the Advocacy Award for Promoting the Presence of African American at North Carolina State University 2007/2008; and the Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher, Department of Communication, North Carolina State University. He has been a principal investigator on several research grants and has authored several publications and conference papers. He is a fellow of the Salzburg Seminar, and a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, as well as the British Commonwealth Technical Scholarship.