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Module Profile: eHealth: Patients and the Internet

eHealth is an emerging field concerned with the use of information and communication technology to improve or enable personal and public healthcare. Increasingly, users of health systems need to have the knowledge and skills to play a more active role in their own care and to participate in decision making.

This shift emphasises the importance of educating patients and the public about health-related matters. Information and communication technologies provide an unprecedented opportunity to deliver health education and information to consumers. Yet, at the same time, there is concern about the quality of the information being published online, the motives of those who become information suppliers, and the low levels of health literacy of some sectors of the population.

This module seeks to acquaint participants with the different facets of eHealth, by considering the health and social policy contexts within which eHealth is emerging and the ways in which patients', consumers' and professionals' roles and perspectives are evolving. It examines the information and education needs of patients, carers and citizens and considers the role of information and communication technologies in meeting those needs. Issues to do with information quality, and the impact of changes in information provision on the ways in which healthcare is delivered and on health outcomes are central to the module.

Module tutor

Dr Jackie Nicholls, UCL CHIME

Mode

Blended learning - web-based distance learning in the UCL Virtual Learning Environment plus 3-day face to face teaching session.

Credits

15

Availability

2012-2013 Session

Teaching Block 1 - see Module Calendar for details.

For further information

Contact courses-chime@ucl.ac.uk