Supporting a Shared Dialog on Healthcare Policy between Researchers, Practitioners, and the Lay Public: Creating the SpeakHealth Online Community

摘要

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation. Despite these expenditures, health outcomes in the U.S. rank surprisingly low among industrialized countries. While access to care and socioeconomic status are strong indicators of health, individual and collective notions of health are the most powerful health improvement assets; no treatment compares. This paper explores the decisions underlying the sociotechnical design of the SpeakHealth online community—a project jointly undertaken by medical professionals, media designers, and information scientists to encourage healthy, mindful behaviors, and to enlist support for structural changes in national healthcare policies and practice. Here we report on the multidisciplinary challenges faced, and decisions made, in crafting its social media strategy and related online community design. The project outcomes made clear that the dynamics between the stakeholders and the professional cultures of these domains was a powerful factor influencing the design of online community.