A4 Refereed article in a conference publication
Information technology - the unredeemed opportunity to reduce cultural and social capital gap between citizens and professionals in healthcare
Authors: Koskinen Jani S. S., Knaapi-Junnila Sari
Editors: Kimppa Kai, Whitehouse Diane, Phahlamohlaka
Conference name: 11th IFIP TC9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC 2014
Publication year: 2014
Book title : ICT and Society
Series title: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
First page : 333
Last page: 346
ISBN: 978-3-662-44207-4
eISBN: 978-3-662-44208-1
ISSN: 1868-4238
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44208-1_27
Patient empowerment and involvement are significant aims in long-term diseases, but short appointments give only little room for conversations. However, the patients need various information and support from healthcare professionals. So, there are pressures to develop new, effective ways for reciprocal communication in addition to the traditional ones.
Courses of action related in care, amongst other things, are unfamiliar to ordinary citizens, as for professionals operate on their home ground having power to control situations. Furthermore, healthcare jargon, which is often used in healthcare settings, is unintelligible for many laymans. This is problematic, because it may inhibit the aimed empowerment and involvement from happening.
In a light of the Coper-pilot´s alongside the former research´s findings, it seems that cultural and social gap between citizens´ and healthcare professionals´ may hinder their communication and mutual understanding. Information technology and salutogenic approach together are able to reduce that gap by strengthening layman's position.
