Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 14.1 Percentage of Internet users who have looked for
online info rmation about…
66 % A specific disease or medical problem
55 % Certain medical treatment or procedure
52 % Exercise or fitness
47 % Doctors or other health professionals
45 % Prescription or over-the-counter drugs
38 % Hospitals or other medical facilities
37 % Health insurance, including private insurance
35 % Alternative treatments or medicines
33 % How to lose weight or how to control weight
28 % Depression, anxiety, stress, or mental health issues
26 % Any other health issue
20 % Experimental treatments or medicines
12 % How to stay healthy in a trip overseas
83 % Of internet users, or 61 % of adults, have looked for
health information about at least one of these topics
Source : Fox ( 2009 )
Increased concern with chronic diseases is leading medical and public health
scholars to actually promote preventive medicine, e.g., the need for lifestyle changes
such as smoking prevention (Pauwels et al. 2001 ) and eating a well-balanced diet
(Grundy et al. 2004 ). This means that health authorities are increasingly talking to
healthy consumers to convince them to implement the necessary lifestyle changes
that help them to avoid future health risks. Such habits and efforts are only possible
if patients are encouraged to participate in therapy choice, i.e., if patient empower-
ment is encouraged (Roter and Hall 2006 ; Sheridan et al. 2004 ). These trends have
the potential to “irreversibly alter the traditional doctor-patient relationship”
(Bodenheimer et al. 2002 , p. 2469).
14.2.3
Technological Evolution
There are also important technological developments contributing to the ongoing
changes in patient-physician relationships and patient empowerment. In particular,
the barriers to patient access to health and therapy information are lower than ever
before in the history of medicine. With the advent of the Internet, seeking health-
related information is one of the most common activities on the Internet today.
According to research conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and
the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), four out of five Internet users have
used the Internet to search for health information, and only two other online activi-
ties were more popular for Internet users: emailing and using search engines (Fox
2011 ). The most sought-after information regards medical treatments or procedures
and prescription or over-the-counter drugs (see Table 14.1 , above). Scholars in med-
icine have also recognized that massive access to health information online has
 
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