Modeling factors that influence personal health records adoption.

The purpose of this article was to describe the Personal Health Records Adoption Model and how it was developed. Older adults who often find themselves managing their own care or the care of their families have expressed interest in using electronic personal health records as a management tool, but few are using them. The literature does not provide a comprehensive model of personal health record adoption among older adults with chronic illness; therefore, essential barriers and facilitators were synthesized from existing literature to create the model. The model derivation and synthesis process drew upon candidate theoretical frameworks, including two behavioral theories, an informatics theory, and a self-management theory, while using the Informatics Research Organizing Model as an organizing framework. The Personal Health Records Adoption Model captures important barriers and facilitators that could predict adoption of personal health records among older adults with chronic illness. The long-term goal is to use this explanatory model to develop interventions that will maximize the facilitators and minimize the barriers to personal health record adoption.