Forwarding as requested....Liz Rykert <[log in to unmask]> > >> Judi Quail recently wrote: >> >> One of the things that is happening with so many people gradually gaining access to >> the internet is that the health care provider will not be in control of the >> information partakers receive. > >JM Dupont responds: > >You raise an interesting point relating to the old "care provider" and >"passive recipient" paradigm in health development , or as you wrote: "health C-A-R-E". >Medical information is one thing, information on social issues is another. Some may >argue with me though not to make the distinction. To some, health promotion is still >education / information dissemination-based and to others it has evolved into more of a >community development concept where there is little room for control, power, (you know >the old: "helping people to take more control over the issues that are important to >them, etc..." > >I suspect people will have varying opinions, depending on where on the spectrum they >understand health promotion to be. I have been following the debate over "health care" >as a term actually now being an oxymoron if we accept the new definitions of health now >internationally recognized. Call it "medical care" is the argument of many. > >Without getting into a whole discussion around this point, let's just say the concepts >and the language we use are obviously colsely related. On a daily basis when I read a >newspaper article for example, I wonder if PEOPLE (not just "patients", "clients", >"service recipients"), or those information partakers as Judi wrote are aware of the >different paradigms operating depending on the writer. > >I would argue the same applies to someone lurking in an Internet newsgroup for example. > >Then, Judi Quail wrote: >> >> What assistance do people need to help them to access information, to >> understand it and to begin to make some judgements about it, and then to use >> it? What needs to be in place to assist people to find their way through >> the tremendous amount of information out there. It is almost like people >> will need mini- research skills, because they are going to be learning about >> information itself, not only the subject matter. I'd like to do some more >> reading on this so if anyone can suggest any articles, research studies >> whatever I'd appreciate hearing from you. > >JM Dupont then responded: > >I really connect with you on this one Judy. To your question "what needs to be in >place?" I am at a loss even trying to suggest how the Internet will address this over >the coming years. > >I suspect though we all need to brush up on how to better communicate. "Plain writing" >as a skill, for example, is one I personally always have to work on. I realize it's >probably subconscious, but many of us often make assumptions in terms of what people >really know / understand. Do we always remind ourselves that the target audiences that >may be "hit" by our messages are not always the ones we initially intended? Do we use >jargon like I just did in my last sentence? Boy am I guilty of that one! > >I suspect the variously defined "health promotion" folks will have a slightly different >slant on all of this than the medical service delivery folks attempting to distribute >information. I may be incorrect here as well. > >I too, would be interested in hearing from others on these points. > >Thanks for posting and getting this interesting discussion going Judi. > >Jean-Marc (JM) Dupont > ><[log in to unmask] & http://www.web.net/~comsys (under construction)> > >