The Web--bringing support and health information into the home: the communicative power of qualitative research.

摘要

The importance of good quality communication with service users cannot be denied (Alexander, 2001) and there has been considerable debate about the possible advantages and disadvantages of the wide availability on the web of information about health issues (Blumenthal, 2001). Debate originally focused on the dangers of members of the public seeking their own health information on the net-commentators were concerned that the public would be misled, that they would swamp healthcare professionals with 'sheaves' of printouts from the internet, that they would make unreasonable demands and that professional relationships would be changed for the worse. Indeed some service users do not tell healthcare professionals that they have sought information about their condition out of concern that the latter will think they do not trust them (Ziebland et al., in press).