The Internet is a rich source of health information but it is not as accessible as many claim. This paper brings together three projects to illustrate technical and cost barriers and some options to overcome them. (1) A survey amongst a representative sample of 180 patients in rural Spain showed a marked age gradient in computer access. None over the age of 50 had, and less than 10% planned, access to the Internet whereas a quarter were prepared to use health centre based touchscreen kiosks. (2) Half the commonly used search engines did not include the two most relevant websites for Glasgow colorectal cancer patients in the first ten documents listed, showing the difficulty facing patients in finding relevant information. Selection of information would help patients avoid being overwhelmed with information. (3) One method to improve accessibility is to download websites to kiosks but two projects showed that considerable work is required to reformat the information. Public access computing, such as kiosks, could help make the Internet more accessible. We discuss whether Web sites which structure their information according to method of access, place and person provide a way forward.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
The purpose of this study was to identify whether NHS Trusts where discrimination in the delivery of care to patients from the South Asian community had been demonstrated had taken any actions to address the issue over the subsequent year. Freedom of information requests were sent to three trusts which had provided evidence of disparate provision of biologic therapy to patients with Crohn's disease, their associated Clinical Commissioning Groups and Healthwatch organisations to seek evidence whether they had remedied the situation. Requests were also sent to the Care Quality Commission, NHS Improvement and the Equality and Human Rights Commission seeking examples where they had responded to inequitable delivery of care related to ethnicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTasers, a form of police weaponry causing neuromuscular incapacitation and extreme pain, were confirmed in 2010 to be used in New Zealand inpatient mental health units. Their use on patients, or tāngata whai ora (persons seeking wellbeing), raises ethical concerns about harm prevention, moral duties, and human rights in healthcare. The New Zealand healthcare system, grounded in principles and rights, regulates procedures to uphold fundamental rights.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVoluntary Assisted Dying and Conscientious Objection: An Analysis from Victoria, Australia.
J Law Med
November 2024
Associate Professor, Monash University Faculty of Law; Deputy Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law.
This article analyses qualitative empirical research conducted by this author to gain a deeper understanding of the rationale behind conscientious objection (CO) to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) and its impact on the operation of VAD in Victoria, Australia. It begins by providing an overview of the Australian legal approach to CO in the context of VAD. It then discusses the spectrum of attitudes that exist towards VAD, illuminating some of the nuance and complexity of the individual and institutional approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDecisions about Medical Treatment and Care, the Legality Assumptions and Sovereign Power - Empowering Patients Out of the State of Bare Life?
J Law Med
November 2024
Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
The framing of patients making decisions about their medical treatment and care as traditional legal decisions, thresholds and formalities is a means to avoid legal liabilities through a rationalisation of decision-making, autonomy and choice. A credible account for the actual place of patients posits the sovereign power (founded in the works of Carl Schmitt and Giorgio Agamben) of the health care professional deciding the state of exception - a discrete legal space where the authority of health care professionals is both lawful and beyond the law. This reveals that dealing with broadly conceived consent issues with more law, more process and procedure but without addressing the inherent legality assumptions that empower health care professionals will always be flawed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychological Distress and Problems Among Young and Middle-Aged Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment in China.
Psychooncology
January 2025
Department of Nursing, Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center, Fudan University Cancer Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Objective: Influenced by their life stage and socio-cultural background, young and middle-aged cancer patients in China may experience unique psychological distress. Therefore, this study investigated the severity, problems, and associated factors of psychological distress among young and middle-aged cancer patients.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on young and middle-aged cancer patients aged 18-59 who were treated at a radiotherapy center from February 2022 to September 2023.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!