Page - x - in Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics - Knowledge Base for Practitioners

Figure 1. Foundational domains of applied health informatics. (Reproduced from [15] by permission of Oxford University Press.) We do not suggest that health informatics cannot be transdisciplinary or multi-dis- ciplinary at times. However, we do propose that interdisciplinarity is the term that best describes most good health informatics work today. We do not want to stay within dis- ciplinary boundaries, but we do aspire to offer coherent synthesis across disciplines. Transdisciplinarity may sometimes be attained, but we suggest it is perhaps too high a goal and not necessarily a priority for most resource-limited health informatics work [18,19]. 5. Structure of the Book We set our overall learning aim for the textbook as: What theories have been applied in health informatics and what difference have they made? The specific objectives were: • To show where and how interdisciplinary theories have been applied in health informatics • To identify theory developed specifically within health informatics • To highlight where further work is necessary to develop theory-based ap- proaches. We undertook a consultative exercise with IMIA and EFMI Working Group mem- bers and potential chapter authors about relevant topics to feature, based around the three foundational domains of health science, information science and social science. When we invited authors to submit chapters, we proposed a standard structure to aid navigation and so that each chapter could be used as a standalone entity for educational use. x