As a doctoral student, Olivia used qualitative methods including observation, interviews, and a longitudinal diary study with parents and health care providers to study the coordination work of children’s collaborative care teams. She collaborated with Dr. Gabi Marcu, and masters students, Allison Spiller and Adrian Choi, in these projects.

This line of Olivia’s research extended health informatics literature with a conceptual framework for shared understanding in collaborative care teams as well as prior sociological research concerning role conflict among caregivers amidst personal change to delineate information needs emerging from different stages of a change process. This research informs the design of technology for care coordination around children and for caregivers.