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Human Factors/Ergonomics

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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

Synonyms

Adherence; Clinical decision-making; Clinical practice guidelines; Cognitive psychology; Compliance; Engineering psychology; Ergonomics; Iatrogenic conditions; Infection; Nosocomial medical errors; Patient safety

Definition

Human factors, also called ergonomics, is defined as:

… the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data, and other methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.

….

Ergonomics helps harmonize things that inter with people in terms of people’s need, abilities and limitations. (International Ergonomics Association 2019)

Human factors in health care focuses on improving health-care quality, including patient safety and patient outcomes (Carayon et al. 2014). For behavioral medicine, the goals of human factors are facilitating effective knowledge, techniques, and changes for disease...

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Correspondence to Jonathan Z. Bakdash .

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Bakdash, J.Z., Drews, F.A. (2020). Human Factors/Ergonomics. In: Gellman, M.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39903-0_893

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39903-0_893

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-39901-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-39903-0

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