Women prefer GPs to the Internet when trying to find out...( are seen as supporting the emergence ...),Health

The study investigated the processes by which this particular group of women became 'informed' about HRT. It has identified several key constraints on the emergence of the 'informed patient' and the practice of 'informed choice':

• Many women are still reluctant to take the responsibility implied by the notion of the informed patient/informed choice and are happy to rely on advice from their GP and other health professionals
  
• Those that do seek to inform themselves often find they have insufficient 'information literacy' to manage and interpret what they find this is especially the case when trying to navigate the world wide web
  
• Those that successfully manage information and come to form a view about preferred treatment approaches often find their preferences dismissed or ridiculed by their doctors who encourage women to take HRT
  
• Many health professionals resist the development of more informed patients, either because their authority is being challenged or because they fear they won't be able to cope with the extra demands made by such patients

The study has major implications for health policy in the field of consumer health information. "Everyone may well have a 'right' to information," says Dr Fils Henwood, "but if they are reluctant to take the responsibility implied by that right, then the policy and practice of informed choice is doomed to fail."

"Most treatments incur some risks - if patients are fully informed and engaged in decision-making, as opposed to placing trust in doctors and letting them decide, then they are also culpable when things go wrong," she continues.

"This is good news for the medical profession but it may be something for which the wider public is not yet ready.

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Contact: Anna Hinds
anna.hinds@esrc.ac.uk
01793-413122
Economic & Social Research Council
22-Aug-2003