Consumer E-Health: An Overview of Research Evidence and Implications for Future Policy

Abstract

Consumer e-health is rapidly becoming a fundamental component of healthcare. However, to date only provisional steps have been taken to increase our understanding of how consumers engage with e-health. This study, an interpretive review, assessed the evidence about consumer use of e-health and identified five categories that encompass consumer e-health: (i) peer-to-peer online support groups; (ii) self-management/self-monitoring applications; (iii) decision aids; (iv) the personal health record; and (v) Internet use. Our findings reveal that e-health offers consumers many possibilities and potential benefits, although there appears to be apprehension concerning the efficacy of some interventions and barriers relating to the trustworthiness of Internet-acquired information. It is imperative that policy initiatives address these issues to ensure that consumer e-health services can be effectively, efficiently, and safely accessed.

Adoption of Electronic Personal Health Records in Canada: Perceptions of Stakeholders

“…While the content of a record is owned by the patient, the physical record itself is owned by the professional. 47 This classification may divide opinions on the subject of who has custody of information. Second, there is overlapping constitutional jurisdiction over privacy in Canada.…”

“…Many factors raised by the participants are also prevalent in the scientific literature. Usability, 16,43,44 support from professionals, 7 targeting specific population of users, 1,8,12,25,45 lack of trust in patient-generated data, 38,46,47 digital divide, 16,48 literacy issues, 25,47 increased workload for professionals, 8,25 and privacy, confidentiality and security 7,9,15,16,18 are among these recurrent factors. However, this study also identifies issues that are less common in the literature or brought interesting subtleties to some known issues: emphasis on patients with chronic diseases, custody and control of these records, legislation related to ePHRs, and the different points on the definition of ePHRs.…”

8. Making and Keeping the Connection: Improving Consumer Attitudes and Engagement in E-Mental Health Interventions

“…Notably, in the 14 studies directly comparing e-mental services with face-to-face treatments, there were no significant differences in treatment efficacy. Despite this evidence that e-mental health services can be effective, there has been relatively little examination of how well consumers engage with these services (Hordern, Georgiou, Whetton, & Progmet, 2011). Client engagement forms part of the broader concept of adherence to the therapeutic process (Clough & Casey, 2011).…”

Exercise as Labour: Quantified Self and the Transformation of Exercise into Labour

“…Some ethnographic approaches to the use of information technologies in a healthcare setting have been attempted, in particular analysing the ways in which they are implicated in social practice [14], although this approach has not yet been taken to the more informal and commercial technologies and practices central to this study. Even studies focusing on "consumer e-health" have not so far dealt with the use of digital data and health data collection devices [15].…”