Henwood Flis, Wyatt Sally, Hart Angie, Smith Julie
Social Informatics Research Unit, School of Computing, Mathematical and Information Sciences, University of Brighton.
Sociol Health Illn. 2003 Sep;25(6):589-607. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.00360.
In this paper we describe and analyse results from an empirical study designed to provide insight into factors facilitating and/or inhibiting the emergence of the much-heralded 'informed patient' and its sociological equivalent, the 'reflexive patient' or 'reflexive consumer'. In particular, we seek to examine the relationship between information and empowerment in a healthcare context and assess the significance of the Internet in mediating this relationship. The paper draws on data from interviews with 32 mid-life women concerned to know about HRT for the relief of menopausal symptoms. Having analysed these women's 'information practices', we conclude that constraints on the emergence of the informed patient identity exist within both patient and practitioner communities and within the space occupied by both in the medical encounter. In particular, in this paper we identify a tension caused by the emphasis on 'information for choice' in the informed patient discourse which itself obscures the potential conflict between lay and expert/medical knowledges in the clinical encounter.
在本文中，我们描述并分析了一项实证研究的结果。该研究旨在深入了解促进和/或抑制备受期待的“知情患者”及其社会学对等概念“反思性患者”或“反思性消费者”出现的因素。具体而言，我们试图审视医疗保健背景下信息与赋权之间的关系，并评估互联网在调节这种关系中的重要性。本文借鉴了对32名关注通过激素替代疗法缓解更年期症状的中年女性的访谈数据。在分析了这些女性的“信息实践”后，我们得出结论，在患者和从业者群体以及医疗互动中双方所占据的空间内，存在着对知情患者身份出现的限制。特别是，在本文中，我们指出了知情患者话语中强调“用于选择的信息”所引发的一种紧张关系，这种强调本身掩盖了临床互动中外行知识与专家/医学知识之间的潜在冲突。
