Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung Elektronische Publikation
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung Elektronische Publikation
Astrid Mager
doi:10.1553/ita-pa-AM-12-1 Eigenverlag/Self
Abstract: Policy & Internet, Vol. 4, Iss. 2, 2012, Article 7 While the Internet is often discussed as empowering or endangering patients due to broadening access to medical and health-related information, little is known about the way patients actually get informed about medical conditions and how the technology shapes their practices. This article draws on 40 user observations and 40 qualitative interviews to explore how users employ the web to obtain knowledge about a chronic disease in the Austrian context. Following concepts from the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) it explores how users’ individual medical preferences and search engines’ mechanisms of pre-filtering information co-shape online health information practices. The analysis demonstrates that search engines are not passive intermediaries, but rather actively shape how users browse through, select and evaluate health information in the context of their own bodies of knowledge. Accordingly, new skills are required on the part of users, but also on the part of medical professionals and policy makers. Both policy makers and doctors should engage with users’ highly individual search practices and establish more dialogue- oriented and technology-focused health policy measures, rather than trying to educate users with standardized quality criteria for websites not responding to users’ online routines and needs. Keywords: online-health-information reliability user-study STS search-engine health-policy Published Online: 2014/07/03 19:25:06 Document Date: 2012/06/14 22:00:00 Object Identifier: 0xc1aa5576 0x0030eeeb Rights: . Fallweise veröffentlicht das Institut für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung zu Themen der Technikfolgen-Abschätzung in elektronischem Format. |
epub.oeaw – Institutionelles Repositorium der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften epub.oeaw – Institutional Repository of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 http://epub.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: epub@oeaw.ac.at |