TNO Quality of Life, Prevention, and Care, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Telemed J E Health. 2010 Sep;16(7):787-91. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2009.0156.
E-health may enable the empowerment process for patients, particularly the chronically ill. However, e-health is not always designed with the requirements of patient empowerment in mind. Drawing on evidence-based e-health studies, we propose directions for best practices to develop e-health that promotes patient empowerment.
The concept of patient empowerment in the Dutch setting is discussed first. The prerequisites for patient empowerment are then described and translated into empowerment areas relevant to e-health.
We reviewed Dutch e-health studies that provide insights into what works, and what does not, in e-health.
On the basis of the lessons learned from the studies, we propose directions for best practices to develop e-health that promotes patient empowerment. These directions cover various aspects, such as the design and implementation of e-health, its information content and usability, awareness, and acceptance. The studies also indicate the difficulty of establishing that e-health is really dedicated to patient empowerment.
Despite the body of knowledge about patient empowerment, as well as the technological visibility of e-health, evidence for best practices in general and for patient empowerment in particular is scarce. We call for a more systematic evaluation of e-health for patient empowerment and more reliable evidence. Beyond the organizational and technical issues involved in e-health, there is also a need to demonstrate its practical benefits to patients. The Netherlands is active in developing sustainable e-health. National initiatives are now in place to support the processes with the aim of establishing the required evidence-based best practices.
电子健康可能使患者，尤其是慢性病患者能够获得赋权。然而，电子健康的设计并不总是考虑到患者赋权的要求。本文基于循证电子健康研究，提出了发展促进患者赋权的电子健康的最佳实践方向。
首先讨论了荷兰背景下的患者赋权概念。然后描述了患者赋权的前提条件，并将其转化为与电子健康相关的赋权领域。
我们回顾了提供有关电子健康中哪些有效、哪些无效的见解的荷兰电子健康研究。
基于从这些研究中吸取的经验教训，我们提出了发展促进患者赋权的电子健康的最佳实践方向。这些方向涵盖了电子健康的设计和实施、信息内容和可用性、意识和接受度等各个方面。研究还表明，要确定电子健康是否真正致力于患者赋权具有一定的难度。
尽管有关于患者赋权的知识体系以及电子健康的技术可见性，但一般最佳实践和患者赋权的证据仍然稀缺。我们呼吁对电子健康促进患者赋权进行更系统的评估，并提供更可靠的证据。除了电子健康所涉及的组织和技术问题外，还需要向患者展示其实际益处。荷兰在开发可持续电子健康方面很活跃。现在已经有国家倡议来支持这些流程，旨在建立所需的基于证据的最佳实践。
