ergonomics | Notion

Definitions

Ergonomics: the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theoretical principles, data and methods to design in order to optimise human wellbeing and overall system performance
System: a set of interacting and interdependent elements that function as a whole towards a goal

Persons: an individual professional such as a clinician or social worker as well as a non-professional individual such as the patient or family caregiver OR teams of individuals e.g. surgical teams or family units
Tasks: attributes or characteristics of the task such as difficulty, complexity, variety, ambiguity and sequence
Tools and technology: objects that people use to do work or that assist people in doing work, including information technologies, medical devices, physical tools and equipment and their characteristics such as usability, accessibility, familiarity, level of automation, portability and functionality
Organisation: structures which organise time, space, resources and activity, including work schedules and assignments, management and incentive systems, organisational culture, training, policies and resource availability
Internal environment: internal environment factors include characteristics of lighting, noise, vibration, temperature, physical layout and available space, and air quality
External environment: macro-level societal, economic, ecological and policy factors outside an organisation

Professional work: work in which a healthcare professional or team of professionals are the primary agents, with minimal active involvement of patients, family caregivers and other non-professionals
Collaborative work: work in which both healthcare professionals and patients (and/or family) are jointly and actively involved
Patient work: work in which the patient (and/or family caregiver) is the primary agent, with minimal active healthcare professional involvement