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IHTs Conference, 2003

Flis Henwood, University of Brighton &Gerard Hanlon, University of Leicester‘The Future is Bright, The Future is IHTs?’

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Introduction

n Findings from Two Projects n ‘Presenting and Interpreting Health

Risks and Benefits: The Role of the Internet’

n ‘NHS Direct: Patient Empowerment or Dependency?’

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Merging of Three Debatesn Reflexivity, Risk and Trustn Citizen – State Relations:

‘Managers of Everyday Life’n Technology and Use: Wishes,

Myths and Realities

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Key Areas of Overlap Between the Internet and NHSDn Health as a jointly produced service –

patient is a factor of production in healthn Technology cannot replace autonomous

professionalsn Technology generating patient experts?n Technology steps into existing social

relationsn Connection and Information Imperativesn Information is not the same as

empowerment

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Health as a joint productionn Need for shared understandings and

interpretation of informationn Information literacy, sense-making and

information communicationn Practitioner engagement in a bid to

reach shared understandingn Practitioner difficulties in jointly

producing health

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Information or Empowerment?n Trust and good judgement – key to

reflexivityn Accessing and Making Sense of

informationn Expertise, trust and riskn Reflexively Passive?n Expertise/tech. located in social contexts

– want profs to explain the production of expertise