School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.
International Research Centre for the Advancement of Health Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Health Commun. 2020 May;35(6):716-725. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1584778. Epub 2019 Mar 18.
Communication between health professionals and patients is an intergroup phenomenon where the health professional has the most power and status. Over the past few decades, there has been a steady increase in the availability to patients of information about healthcare and specific diseases on the Internet. In this paper, we ask whether the use of Internet health information assists patients to manage their consultations with health professionals better and whether it alters the intergroup dynamic by providing a more equal status for patients. In this study 370 participants from Australia and Canada completed a survey that included a 'willingness to communicate with health professionals' scale. They also commented on their use and trust of Internet health information. Thematic analysis suggests that patients' use of Internet health information serves as a broker between patients and their health provider in health consultations. We discuss the implications of these findings for health practitioners as they address how easier Internet access influences patient interactions with health professionals. We consider future research directions these finding provide in explaining communication behaviour in this context.
医患沟通是一种群体间现象，其中医疗专业人员拥有最多的权力和地位。在过去几十年中，互联网上提供给患者有关医疗保健和特定疾病的信息稳步增加。在本文中，我们询问使用互联网健康信息是否有助于患者更好地管理与医疗专业人员的咨询，以及通过为患者提供更平等的地位是否改变群体间的动态。在这项研究中，来自澳大利亚和加拿大的 370 名参与者完成了一项调查，其中包括“与医疗专业人员沟通的意愿”量表。他们还对互联网健康信息的使用和信任发表了评论。主题分析表明，患者使用互联网健康信息在健康咨询中充当患者和其医疗服务提供者之间的中间人。我们讨论了这些发现对医疗从业者的影响，因为他们需要解决互联网更容易访问如何影响患者与医疗专业人员的互动。我们考虑了这些发现为解释这种情况下的沟通行为提供的未来研究方向。
