Collaborative e-Health Environments: The enhanced role of health agents

• Main Author: Vicentini Jorente, Maria Jose [UNESP]
• Publication Date: 2019
• Other Authors: Nakano, Natalia [UNESP], Padua, Mariana Cantisani [UNESP], Silva, Anahi Rocha [UNESP]
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Download full: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2318-0889201931e170059; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/185727
• topic: Collaborative environments; E-Health; Health communication; Microcephaly; Web 2.0; Virus Zika

The literature has discussed the importance of the impact of Information and Communication Technology on health promotion, health education and applications to promote change in health behaviors, denominated e-Health promotion. The objective of this article is to describe Web 2.0 properties that should converge to a peer-to-peer collaboration platform, with the mediation of a health agent. This Web 2.0 system should provide a space where people may, not only receive information, but also exchange ideas and experiences about how to deal with the conditions resulting from the diseases caused by Zika virus, such as microcephaly. Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition in which the child's head and brain are significantly smaller than those of others at the same age and sex and may cause a number of genetic or environmental problems. The risk of a Zika epidemic is real, it mainly affects people in poor countries, and especially Brazil that has the social responsibility to face the challenge of supporting hundreds of families of children born with microcephaly. E-Health projects are often focused only on health service managers, practitioners and research partners. These projects are not of open access and, in Brazil, there is no public platform that serves non-specialized citizens. We suggest a design that includes the health worker, family and stakeholders as content creators, able to act peer-to-peer and bottom-up, which may be useful for developing countries with similar health contexts.