 It has been an accepted "truth" that consultations and health services must be provided face to face if they are to be effective. For this reason, many people are worried that "cold technology" will replace the "warm hands" of the public health service.
This fear may well be overstated. At least, this is the implication of doctoral research by psychologist Jan-Are Kolset Johnsen, who defended his thesis on Friday 5 September at the University of Tromsø.
Lowering the threshold for openness
The research was conducted against the background of studies from Australia showing that 40% of those who struggle with mental illnesses do not get help.
The reasons for this may include long distances, costs that are too high, and the feelings of shame and stigmatization associated with seeking help for mental illnesses. But the Internet costs nothing and eliminates the distances, with the result that more people look for services on the Net.
"The Internet helps patients to overcome such barriers to seeking help. But another and very important effect is that they are in fact more open when they are to describe their symptoms through text on the Internet," says Johnsen.
Effective communication = better diagnoses
For many people, it is not easy to explain what the problem is when you are sitting opposite the doctor. And if you keep information to yourself, there is a strong possibility that the diagnosis will be wrong. This can in turn result in the wrong treatment and the wrong medication.
With the backing of Johnsen's research, the public health service can thus build new and more effective forms of communication based on text. This gives doctors a better basis for decisions, which in turn means better diagnoses and better treatment.
The doctoral degree is entitled “Electronically Mediated Health Communication: Uses of Text-Based Media”. Johnsen has conducted his research at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine with supervision from the University of Tromsø. The study is funded by the Research Council of Norway.
Contact person
Research scientist Jan-Are Kolset Johnsen, telephone (+47) 414 12 887 and email jan.are.kolset.johnsen@telemed.no | 
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