Incorporating a Whole-Person Perspective in Consumer-Generated Data: Social Determinants, Resilience, and Hidden Patterns

Given the complex health and social needs of older adults, the rapid growth of the aging population, and the increasing use of information technology in healthcare, there is a critical need for informatics solutions that advance gerontological nursing care and knowledge discovery. This article illustrates the value of standardized data for healthcare quality improvement throughout the life cycle of data capture and reuse. One such informatics solution is the MyStrengths+MyHealth app, which incorporates a whole-person perspective through the Simplified Omaha System Terms assessment, including the social and behavioral determinants of health, as well as resilience. The data describe whole-person health of older adults from MyStrengths+MyHealth for use in clinical encounters and as raw data for research. There is potential to use such standardized data to improve gerontological nursing care at the bedside and for population health management and research.