I have finished to check the proof of my article entitled Opportunities and challenges of Web 2.0 within the health care systems: an empirical exploration for Informatics for Health and Social Care (An International Journal of Informatics in Health Care).

Here goes the abstract:

The Internet has become one of the main drivers of e-health. Whilst its impact and potential is being analysed, the Web 2.0 phenomenon has reached the health field and has emerged as a buzzword that people use to describe a wide range of online activities and applications. The aims of this article are: to explore the opportunities and challenges of the Web 2.0 within the health care system and to identify the gap between the potential of these online activities and applications and the empirical data. The analysis is based on: online surveys to physicians, nurses, pharmacist and patient support groups; static web shot analysis of 1240 web pages and exploration of the most popular Web 2.0 initiatives. The empirical results contrast with the Web 2.0 trends identified. Whereas the main characteristic of the Web 2.0 is the opportunity for social interaction, the health care system at large could currently be characterised by: a lack of interactive communication technologies available on the Internet; a lack of professional production of health care information on the Internet, and a lack of interaction between these professionals and patients on the Internet. These results reveal a scenario away from 2.0 trends.

The article has been done with Miquel Angel Mayer and Joan Torrent, colleagues from Interdisciplinary Research Group on ICTs (i2TIC), and will be published on September 2009.

On 23rd January 2009 I defended my PhD thesis “Internet, health and society. Analysis of the uses of internet related to health in Catalonia” supervised by the IN3’s Director and UOC Research Professor Manuel Castells. I’m translating my slide presentation, it takes time because It has many figures, just take a look at the Spanish version, and my talk to English but I would like to share the Spanish version of my presentation and the main structure in English.

Objectives:

• Identify and characterize the presence of the actors of the Catalonian healthcare system in the Internet
• Identify, characterize and explain the determinants of the use and social practices that the principal actors of the healthcare system carry out through ICT, specifically that of the Internet

Research questions

• What type of quality information and applications related with Health are offered on the Internet?
• How can the presence of the healthcare system’s actors on the Internet be characterized?
• Which are the main barriers and incentives of patient support groups for Internet use?
• What are the ICT uses of the citizens with regard to health and how can they be characterized?
• What are the consequences of citizen ICT use, specifically that of the  Internet, regarding the management of their health and the relationship with their healthcare professionals?
• What are the determinants (technological and non-technological) of the demand of healthcare services by citizens via the Internet?
• What are the uses of ICT, especially the Internet, by healthcare professionals  and how can they be characterized?
• What are the determinants (technological and non-technological) of the uses of the Internet by health care professionals (Physicians, Nurses and Pharmacist)?

General Hypothesis:

• The interaction between social structure, the increase of information flow and ICT causes a transformation in social practices and in the behaviour of the actors of the  healthcare system

Sub Hyphotesis

• The Internet is basically an information space on Health and not an interaction space between the actors of the healthcare system; therefore health webs are characterized by the offer of information resources, by the lack of applications related with communication or services and by levels of quality associated with the actor who provides the resource

• The interrelation between access, use and assessment of ICT, healthcare services demand and the capacity of the individuals to take decisions over their own health or those closest to them determines the use of the Internet to access to the health system, a new patient profile called the e-patient

• The interrelation between the intensive use of ICT, specially the Internet, the positive assessment by healthcare professionals of these technologies in relation with their work activities and their patients, the intensive use of the information and professional work oriented towards research determines a new professional profile called the  Networked healthcare professional.

Methodology

This thesis has verified that:

• The Internet constitutes an information space on health and not an interaction space between the various actors in the healthcare system; consequently, health webs are characterized by the offer of resources related with information, the lack of applications related with communication and services, and certain levels of quality associated with the actor that offers the resource.
• The interaction between access, use and evaluation of ICT; the demand of healthcare services and the capacity of the individuals to take decisions over their own health and those closest to them, determines the use of the Internet to have access to the healthcare system, i.e. determining a new profile of patient that we have called the e-patient.
• The interrelation of the intensive use of ICT, especially that of the Internet; the positive assessment of these technologies in relation with their work and their patients; the intensive use of information, and a professional activity oriented towards research determines a new professional profile which we call the networked healthcare professional (networked physician, networked nurse, networked pharmacist)

Future lines of research

• Analysis of the determinants of the processes of innovation of the healthcare systems in relation to ICT
• Analysis of the determinants of the state of health in the context of the Network Society
• Analysis of public policies in the context of the Network Society
• Analysis of the technological dynamics and interactions, economic and social of biomedical research in the context of the Network Society

Spanish presentation

You can check all the references here or on my personal reference manager. Ismael Peña and Oriol Miralbell have blogging and comment the event. Finally, this thesis is just the beginig of a research career. If you have found any interesting point or something to disscuss or compare, let’s share. As Liverpool supporters You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Health and Social Care Information: A review of provision in the North East is a research report written by Suzanne Lockyer and Elizabeth Blenkinsopp. The authors state “There are currently many drivers for change in the provision of health and social care information to the public” and mention that “the aims of this review were to collect examples of good practice from North East and to propose a model for co-ordinated and sustainable provision (of information)”

To achieve their aims they have carried out an extensive literature review, which I would recommend. This review is grouped into four brad themes:

• Politics and Funding
• Public perception of health and social care information
• Providers
• Delivery (technology and methods)

After this revision, which was undertaken to provide background information for the study, three different methodologies have been used and described in detail:

• Questionnaires (Patient Advice and Liaison Service, social care and public libraries).
• Focus group (with key providers from the three sectors) which
• Telephone interviews (with key national and regional stakeholders from the three sectors).

Although the reading of the whole project is strongly recommend, just the conclusions are reproduced below:

There is evidence of a wide range of provision, with no shortage of information available. There are enthusiastic and professional providers in all sectors. However, collaboration is needed to maximise the individual skills apparent in the three sectors.

Libraries emerge as having great potential. They are viewed by both the public and other providers as a neutral space and as a recognised ‘place’ for information. However, there is also potential to extend their role and this may be more challenging.

Overall, four barriers were identified by the research:

• Information Professionals lack awareness of available resources – both within and between organisations.
• There is duplication of effort and information overload by Information Professionals.
• There is a need to raise public awareness of where to go for information. This also relates to the placing of information; many respondents to the questionnaire noted the value of placing information in ‘non-health/social service’ locations.
• There is a current lack of staff training across all three sectors (Health, Social Services and Public Libraries) in information skills, people skills and dealing with queries outside own profession.

Let me further add that I’m in totally agreement with the recommendations made by the research team. However I would like to remark the importance of three more points.

Firstly, hospital and community pharmacists should be taken into account in the public health care system. It is important to bear in mind that they are more available to the citizens than any other health professional; they have sufficient knowledge to help citizens to manage their health; they generally have enough communication skills and they have incentives to mantein a good relationship with their clients.

Secondly, the Internet is not just a content platform. It is necessary to take advantage of the Internet as an interactive space where social arrangements are possible. That means on the one hand collaboration and coordination among the different actors and initiatives -on line, off line, multi channel-, and on the other hand the expectations of centralization and the experience of decentralization should be managed.

And last but not least. The government has a key role as a node in the network which provides the regulatory and legal framework and develops information health policies to the whole society.