{"title":"Struggling with and mastering e-mail consultations: A study of access, interaction, and participation in a digital health care system","authors":"Anette Grønning","doi":"10.2478/nor-2021-0038","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In Denmark, medical consultations and the institutional practice of going to the doctor have been expanded upon over the past decade, with e-mail consultations (e-consultations) now supplementing conventional consultations. As a form of communication with different constraints than face-to-face and telephonic communication, e-consultations are likely to both afford some benefits and present struggles. In this article, I examine the use and perception of primary care e-consultations from the perspective of the patient. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 20 patients and guided by the following research question: How do patients struggle with and master digital participation during e-consultations? The study demonstrates that e-consultations are more than a digital access point to the healthcare system: patients often struggle to maintain contact with their general practitioner, and e-consultations can help them navigate the healthcare system. Indeed, those who master this form of communication are appreciative of it and perceive it as screen care.","PeriodicalId":45517,"journal":{"name":"Nordicom Review","volume":"42 1","pages":"7 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nordicom Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0038","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Abstract In Denmark, medical consultations and the institutional practice of going to the doctor have been expanded upon over the past decade, with e-mail consultations (e-consultations) now supplementing conventional consultations. As a form of communication with different constraints than face-to-face and telephonic communication, e-consultations are likely to both afford some benefits and present struggles. In this article, I examine the use and perception of primary care e-consultations from the perspective of the patient. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 20 patients and guided by the following research question: How do patients struggle with and master digital participation during e-consultations? The study demonstrates that e-consultations are more than a digital access point to the healthcare system: patients often struggle to maintain contact with their general practitioner, and e-consultations can help them navigate the healthcare system. Indeed, those who master this form of communication are appreciative of it and perceive it as screen care.