ABSTRACT
This leads us to one concept that is increasingly seen in the health informatics literature, “patient empowerment.” Demiris (2006) writes, “Empowerment can be perceived as an enabling process through which individuals or groups take control over their lives and managing disease.” It involves self-awareness, personal responsibility, informed choices, and quality of life (Feste and Anderson 1995, p. 186). Patient empowerment is generally seen as positive, as are the changes that have resulted in viewing people as consumers of health care. Health care researchers and professionals are actively trying to find ways to facilitate patient involvement in care. The Web, and especially social computing, is seen as a vehicle for empowering patients and helping them become “active partners” (Donnelly et al. 2008; Polomano et al. 2007). Many, such as Pratt et al. (2006) suggest that patients need tools that address current information gathering and sharing challenges, thereby enabling them to be more involved in their health care. Bos et al. (2008) believe that “the self-care information tool of the future will be a combination between the patient’s observation record and the Internet, with the doctor and the patient positioned together at the intersection but not having to pay attention to the technology.”
