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Review
. 2007 Dec;15(4):273-90.
doi: 10.1007/s10728-007-0061-9.

Information Rx: prescribing good consumerism and responsible citizenship

Samantha Adams  1 , Antoinette de Bont
Affiliations
Review

Information Rx: prescribing good consumerism and responsible citizenship

Samantha Adams et al. Health Care Anal. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

Recent medical informatics and sociological literature has painted the image of a new type of patient--one that is reflexive and informed, with highly specified information needs and perceptions, as well as highly developed skills and tactics for acquiring information. Patients have been re-named "reflexive consumers." At the same time, literature about the questionable reliability of web-based information has suggested the need to create both user tools that have pre-selected information and special guidelines for individuals to use to check the individual characteristics of the information they encounter. In this article, we examine suggestions that individuals must be assisted in developing skills for "reflexive consumerism" and what these particular skills should be. Using two types of data (discursive data from websites and promotional items, and supplementary data from interviews and ethnographic observations carried out with those working to sustain these initiatives), we examine how users are directly addressed and discussed. We argue that these initiatives prescribe skills and practices that extend beyond finding and assessing information on the internet and demonstrate that they include ideals of consumerism and citizenship.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of one version of the prescription pad that physicians can give to patients during the consultation to refer them to web-based information about a specific health topic
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Patients can download this toolbar from http://www.medcircle.org and set their own preferences for characteristics that they find important in the provision of health information
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. {'text': '', 'ref_index': 1, 'ids': [{'type': 'PubMed', 'value': '14534627', 'is_inner': True, 'url': 'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14534627/'}]}
    2. Adams, S. A., & de Bont, A. A. (2003). Notions of reliability: Considering the importance of difference in guiding patients to health care web sites. Methods of Information in Medicine, 42, 307–312. - PubMed
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    2. Adams, S. A., de Bont, A. A., & Berg, M. (2006). Looking for answers, constructing reliability: An exploration into how Dutch patients “check” web-based health information. International Journal of Medicine Informatics, 75, 66–72. - PubMed
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