Information Technology – The Unredeemed Opportunity to Reduce Cultural and Social Capital Gaps between Citizens and Professionals in Healthcare

Patient empowerment and involvement are significant aims in long-term diseases, but short appointments give only little room for conversations. However, the patients need various information and support from healthcare professionals. So, there are pressures to develop new, effective ways for reciprocal communication in addition to the traditional ones.

Courses of action related in care, amongst other things, are unfamiliar to ordinary citizens, as professionals operate on their home ground having the power to control situations. Furthermore, healthcare jargon, often used in healthcare settings, is unintelligible for many laymen. This is problematic because it may inhibit the aimed empowerment and involvement from happening.

Key findings from Coper-pilot research project alongside the former research´s findings indicate that cultural and social gap between citizens´ and healthcare professionals´ may hinder their communication and mutual understanding. Information technology and salutogenic approach together can act as means to reduce that gap by strengthening layman’s position.