The mechanism of patient knowledge empowerment through digital health communities

Foresight study on online health community: The perspective of knowledge empowerment for patients with chronic diseases

“…• In social interaction, the challenge posed by patient knowledge sharing will be formed: how to balance the power of patients and the healthcare professional? Thus, OHCs can be viewed not only as an enabler of patient knowledge by sharing factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge in the fields of health literacy, 23 but also as a health technology supporting social relations between patients and between patients and healthcare professionals. 24 This combination of functions determines patients' self-efficacy (which is what is sought after in modern healthcare systems) and this way contributes to meeting the needs of the healthcare system stakeholders.…”

“…Thus, the OHC affects patients who are at the micro stage of patient empowerment and are empowered through mediating structures, with the potential to be empowered to manage a chronic disease at the macro stage. This insight suggests that patient knowledge‐sharing activity also varies depending on the stage of patient empowerment 23 : Patients with chronic diseases empowered at the micro stage are not active members of the OHC in sharing knowledge on the social network of that community because they are either not involved in it or are passive observers of its activities. A patient at this level of empowerment does not yet perceive themselves as maximally self‐efficacious to transfer their knowledge to other patients, but the patient‐centred model of healthcare results in close communication with caregivers and healthcare professionals. In OHCs, as in mediating structures, as empowerment evolves, patients continue to interact directly with healthcare professionals and caregivers; however, with empowerment evolving, and with patient self‐confidence and self‐efficacy growing, they actively share accumulated knowledge with other patients and seek knowledge from other stakeholders outside the OHC.…”