Design Knowledge for Collaborative Health Information Systems for Substance Use Disorder

Opioid related addictions/deaths is a national problem that is threatening our social and economic welfare. While many community preventive efforts are made to reduce overdoses and deaths, they often fall short. This project takes a design science approach to tackle a serious societal challenge: develop a software-based solution to aid the efforts of a Southern US community engaged in battling the opioid crisis. Artifact design, development and evaluation occurred in multiple iterations, conducting exploratory and confirmatory stakeholder focus groups. The artifact presented herein represents a system that facilitates up-close and personal (and private and sensitive) communication to improve the human mental health condition. The research supports the case for scenario-based design theorizing by developing context scenarios discussed with participants and then used to further elicit design knowledge in the form of principles, requirements, and solution features that map to each other. Further, the design process employed illustrates a practical means to align the solution design with real-world needs that address key human factors requirements for fragile, human sensitive, social-health contexts. The resulting solution and design knowledge provide support for future development of information systems to support social programs for mental health and substance use disorder treatment and recovery services.