Designing a Mobile Informational Website for Military Medical Personnel

Abstract

Medical augmentees at Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command are responsible for the health and welfare of team members deployed to remote regions of the world to extract remains of lost service members. No method was in place to prepare these individuals for mission prior to arriving on Oahu and information needed to be available as an online resource and viewable on mobile hand-held devices so members could access information prior to and during deployment. The purpose of the instructional design project was to develop and evaluate a web-based instructional website designed to provide necessary medical and mission knowledge to medical augmentees. Fifteen current and former augmentees were asked to review the Aloha Augmentee website, evaluate the quality of content and make recommendations for improvement. Data were collected via online pre and post surveys. The results revealed that the website was viewed as successful with very positive qualitative feedback. Participants felt that the website could be even more effective with the addition of medical-grade photographs and more in-depth background about specific regional diagnoses. Feedback from participants will be used to improve the overall design and content of the website to better prepare future augmentees.