E-hälsotjänster i praktiken : En studie av Mina vårdkontakter och Min hälsoplan

Sammanfattning: As an effect of increased living standards and improved health care, life expectancy has risen in many parts of the world. At the same time, welfare diseases such as diabetes and obesity increases. As the number of elderly and long-term sick rises, so will the medical care needs. E-health applications are often presented as a way to meet future medical and doing so within the scope of existing resources. By facilitating health communication and widen access to health services by offering them online, e-health applications encourages people to become more engaged in their own health, thus working proactively towards a healthier population. However, e-health applications often fail to reach their full potential. The purpose of this study is to explore how health care providers and health care recipients perceives e-health applications and their usefulness and thus being able to identify factors significant for successful introduction and use of e-health services. Two e-health applications have been analysed and six important aspects have been identified and discussed. In order to be successful, an e-health application must facilitate behaviour change and be integrated in the everyday life of the user. Substantial and adequate evaluation is essential to make sure that the application meet the requirements from both health care providers and health care recipients. An understanding of the possibilities technology has to offer is needed in order to fully exploit the potential of e-health applications in health care. Instructions for health care providers on how to use the applications are essential not only to ensure their proper usage but also to make sure that applications are being presented to recipients in a satisfactory way and that care providers can offer the support and help recipients may need. Finally, when discussing e-health applications it is important to remember that there are people who does not want to get involved and that there is still a demand for face-to-face interaction in health care. Therefore, e-health services must be complemented with alternatives providing different types of interaction opportunities.