Relationship-Relevant and Family-Friendly eHealth: Innovations in Interactive Health Communication Systems

Abstract

As the reach of the Internet grows, eHealth is fast becoming a major adjunct to traditional delivery of health information and support worldwide. Existing Interactive health communication systems, however, typically target individual users, focus on individual rather than on relational health, and neglect the relational and familial context of individual health issues. Reviewing developments primarily in the United States, this article applies a “marriage and family lens” to examine web-based technologies for health and well-being and suggests innovations to make eHealth both relationship relevant and family friendly. Although recent innovations offer great promise for supporting the relational “fabric” of family life, specific cautions and the need for research on effectiveness are underscored.

The Separate Spheres of Online Health

“…Nevertheless, questions about health-searching behaviors and whether feelings about the information people find on the web differ for parents, especially for mothers, still persist. Previous research has tended to focus on individuals without applying what Roberts and Japuntich (2009) call a familial or “relational” lens; that is, this research has not looked at the way family status and roles influence our behaviors. The significance of this research is to fill these gaps in the literature and help us better understand the interactions between gender and parenting in an era of unprecedented access to health information.…”