PRESENTING AND INTERPRETING HEALTH RISKS AND BENEFITS: THE ROLE OF THE INTERNET Flis Henwood, Sally Wyatt and Angie Hart

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PRESENTING AND INTERPRETING HEALTH RISKS AND
BENEFITSTHE ROLE OF THE INTERNETFlis Henwood,
Sally Wyatt and Angie Hart
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Policy context

• Information seen as key resource in health care
  Information for Health, Building the
  Information Core etc.
• ICTs have central role in this information for
  health strategy, for improving health
  information management at organisational and
  individual levels

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Consumer health information

• Ease of access to appropriate information seen as
  central for patient empowerment and consumer
  involvement in health care decision-making
• ICTs have central role in reducing health
  inequalities- for example, by overcoming problems
  of social isolation for some patient groups

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ICT-related projects in IHT programme

• NHS Direct and patient empowerment
• The use of Internet technologies for people with
  an acquired communications impairment (aphasia)
• Presenting and interpreting health risks and
  benefits The role of the Internet

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Brief description

• A qualitative study of the information strategies
  employed by Internet users and non-users seeking
  information about the health risks and benefits
  of HRT and Viagra

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Key questions

• Is Internet empowering for healthcare consumers?
• Does it enable them to better assess health risks
  and benefits? How, why?
• Does it enable them to better negotiate with
  healthcare professionals regarding treatments?
  How, why?

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Which IHT?

• The Internet - having the potential to change the
  ways in which health risks and benefits are
  presented and interpreted
• HRT and Viagra - implicated in changing
  constructions of gender, sexuality and the ageing
  body

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Linking the two debates optimistic scenario

• Greater availability of health information (for
  example, via the Internet) will lead to the
  emergence of more informed patients
• These informed or reflexive patients are
  better able to assess the risks and benefits of
  alternative treatments for themselves

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Linking the two debates pessimistic scenario

• Internet inequalities differential access to the
  skills, equipment and services required to take
  advantage of the information carried by new media
• Over-abundance of information available on-line
  leads to confusion and anxiety - lay users do not
  have the expertise to evaluate the information

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Internet print-out syndrome
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What we already know about Internet use

• Internet usage continues to grow
• Still relatively low - approx. 30 to 35 of the
  UK households
• Internet use concentrated amongst younger,
  well-educated males
• Ethnic minorities have poorer access to Internet
  than their white counterparts

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Health information on the Internet

• After pornography, health information is the most
  sought after information on the Internet
• The quality of the information varies
  considerably
• Medical professionals calling for a gold
  standard or kite mark for health-related web
  sites

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Some key features of the study

• Qualitative study
• Longitudinal study of patient participants
• Comparative study of Internet users and
  non-users information strategies
• Purposive sampling techniques
• Web content analysis
• Computer-generated logs

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Presentation of risk and benefits

• Comparison of different media re presentation of
  risks and benefits of HRT and Viagra
• Advantages of Internet? E.g. hyperlinks to sites
  with alternative views
• Comparison of HRT and Viagra discourses re
  gender, sexuality and the ageing body

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Ask Jeeves example www.ask.co.uk

• What are the risks and benefits of HRT?
• What are the risks and benefits of Viagra?

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Interpretation of risks and benefits

• What can participants interactions with
  different media tell us about their
  interpretations? (where they start their search,
  how they navigate the media)
• How do they position themselves re competing
  discourses re gender, sexuality and the ageing
  body found re HRT and Viagra

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Negotiations with health care professionals

• How do Internet users and non-users employ health
  information about the risks and benefits of HRT
  and Viagra in their negotiations with GPs and
  other HCPs?
• What are HCPs views on the use of the Internet
  and other media by patients seeking health
  information?

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Policy relevance key issues and debates

• Kite marking of health information on the
  Internet
• The informed patient expert and lay knowledge
• Education for patients re their enhanced role as
  reflexive consumers
• Education for HCPs re relationship with
  informed and reflexive patients

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User engagement key groups

• Health Development Agency, Health promotion
• I4H, Information for Patients and Public
• Health care professionals
• Health educators
• Health libraries
• Lay users

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Presenting and Interpreting Health Risks and
Benefits The Role of the Internet

• Dr Flis Henwoood, School of Information
  Management, University of Brighton
• Dr Sally Wyatt, Department of Communications,
  University of Amsterdam
• Dr Angie Hart, Centre for Nursing and Midwifery
  Research, University of Brighton