Title: PERSPECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Perspective of the study

This deliverable aimed at sketching the social dynamics within the institutional socio-legal frameworks related to eHealth. It is our aim to understand how personal health data management is fitting into the tradition of welfare states in Europe.  

As technology is socially constructed, we want to get a picture of the social construction of technologies related to personal health (care) data. We start from the knowledge that human action shapes technology. The ways in which a technology is used cannot be understood without understanding how that technology is embedded in its social context. In this case we want to get a clearer picture on how eHealth and the use of personal data is embedded in traditions of welfare regimes.

We are mainly interested in the legal, ethical and economical considerations and interest of stakeholders: how do these aspects influence the social construction of the personal health and health care information models in the different countries. We tried to take into account specific normative and cultural elements to welfare states of the countries under investigation. We aimed at getting a better picture of choices made by different stakeholders on eHealth personal information issues, but the information gathered did not allow for analysing these issues. These aspects will definite require further investigation. 

A better understanding of the use of personal health data within the context of welfare states in the Europe is crucial to develop adapted business models for implementing future health knowledge technologies.  

The relationship to policy issues is obvious, as choices on the organization and legal frameworks around the development and use of technological infrastructures for capturing personal health data will raise the issue of individual and collective responsibilities. Moreover on a scientific level this deliverable is stepping stone to understand the ‘social construction’ of patient and health information models and to assess the potential opportunities and challenges related to the technological support tools when dealing with personal health data.