here - Eesti Rahvaluule

On-Line Medicine. Communication and
Narratives
Mare Kõiva
Health is one of the issues central to our life. Ailments are bothersome
companions that follow us around now and then. Many
of the chronic diseases that even contemporary medicine considers
incurable are quickly gaining ground in the whole technologically
developed world. For example, consider diabetes, the
most prolific metabolic disorder in the whole world. Type I diabetics
need several injections of insulin daily, they need to constantly
keep track of their blood sugar levels and a strictly regulated
diet. Out of the 1.5 million people living in Estonia, approximately
70,000 are diabetics. In the whole world, more than
100 million people suffer from diabetes. By the year 2010, WHO
foresees a doubling of the number of diabetics. I used here the
scope of diabetes because one of the sources for this paper is the
Estonian diabetes online forum.
Recent research has pointed to the erosion of community
relations, increasing isolation, social fragmentation and a distancing
from responsibility towards others. This also means a
decrease in political, social and religious participation, voluntarism
and also that 90% of adult social relations are connected with
their workplace (Putnam 2000, also Shklovski & Kraut & Rainie
2004). This leads to the question whether internet communities
follow the same trend or are they a substitute replacing former
civil and family communities? Are they an example of transformed
communication models? Besides the scientific concepts and practices
it applies, the medical sphere has both a human and personal
dimension. How are you coping with your illness? How do
you live your daily life? What does the internet and virtual communities
give you?
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Mare Kõiva