The health information as a social regulator

Jivka Vinarova, Polina Mihova

Biomedical Science Department

New Bulgarian University, Sofia, 1618, Bulgaria

e-mail:  jvinarova@nbu.bg, pmihova@nbu.bg

Abstract

Intoduction: The article presents a 2 years study, published in our monograph, which is devoted to one big goal: to seek and analyze the social roles of the produced in health sector specialized medical and health information, its precursors and derivatives.

Aim: The idea, to which we dedicate our study is analyzing and discussing the important and leading roles of specialized types of produced and disseminated information, which determine the effective functioning of modern social systems. From the various types of information circulating in communities, we will focus to health and medical information products.

We present the human beings as partners and moderators of telehealth and cyberhealth solutions as basic elements in their personal healthcare management. We prove that the services and activities allow new forms of interaction between experts and patients, and the creation of sick and healthy on-line communities serve as a permanent information environment.

Conclusion: We prove that network is a new social space, model of the old concept of "real community", where health and medical culture have a new range of users through their own cyberculture, and in this way are created new social interactions and communities. Networking is phenomenal structure, where public health users are united by remote social and physiological experience. In this way are improved and objectified the market of health services and social activities by strengthening the role of patient as the payer, who has the right of informed choice. The informed choice marks power and performs a new tool that makes the user a supporter of his personal health management.

Key words: Public health, eHealth, information