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Why do some Dutch people fully immerse themselves in the internet to search for information about diseases or conditions? And why are others only willing to accept the personal advice of doctors? Why do certain online communities of patient groups and peers grow so spectacularly? And why are other patients much more hesitant to share their medical experiences? Are people directly driven in their consumption and sharing of care information by the increasing possibilities of broadband and internet services? Or is this an autonomous trend towards the need for more care information, where Internet and broadband are merely supportive?
To gain more insight into online medical information and its users, a research question has been formulated in collaboration with the University of Utrecht. This research question is formulated as follows:
How is the internet used and experienced compared to other media regarding online health information, what are determinants of the use of this online health information, and what are the effects on offline healthcare behaviour as measured within the Dutch population?
You can find the answer to this question in the thesis 'Understanding Care Online' by Guido Ongena.