Gender, health and information technology in context

E. Balka, E. Green and F. Henwood ( eds ) Gender, health and information technology in context . Hampshire : Palgrave MacMillan , 2009 £55.00 220 pp . ISBN 978-0-230-21634-1 ( hbk ) This book assesses the question of how understandings of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in health care can be improved by an analysis of gender, and how understandings of gender can be informed by examination of the use of ICTs in health care (p. 3). As discussed in the introductory chapter, although recent sociological research has provided a more critical understanding of the role of ICTs in health care, the gendered aspects of these social relations have received comparatively less attention. Therefore in bringing together a collection of empirical studies addressing this issue, this book ‘breaks new ground’ (p.3). Although primarily presenting empirical material, these studies are firmly situated within sociological theories and debates, bringing together somewhat disparate literatures concerning ‘gender and health’, ‘technology and health’, and ‘gender and technology’. In particular, the book seeks to locate understandings of ICT use in health care within research and theory on the ‘gender-technology relation’. Although primarily drawing on sociological literatures, this book incorporates research from multi-disciplinary fields, and would be of interest to students and academics across different disciplines interested in relations between gender, technology, health, and care. It is also relevant for policy makers and practitioners seeking to better understand the implications of ICTs in ‘real-life’ health and care settings, which are neatly drawn together in the concluding chapter. While the overarching theme of this book is the examination of relations between gender, health and ICTs, the importance of situating this understanding within everyday spaces and relationships is an important sub-theme which is developed throughout the chapters. This approach builds on broader arguments for research to move beyond discussions of the ‘impact’ of technologies and analyses of statistical ‘digital divides’, to understanding how people make use of technologies within everyday life (see Chapters 1 and 5 for discussion). Although previous studies have examined the ‘domestication’ of technologies in health care organisations, it is argued that there is lack of research on how the use of ICTs in these contexts is gendered (p. 6-7). The chapters in this book therefore examine these dynamics in various contexts including: health information seeking within household relations (Chapter 1), use of computers in the provision of care at a community centre (Chapter 3), the implementation of a patient care information system in a hospital emergency department (Chapter 5), and interactions around screenings for breast cancer and osteoporosis in specialist health clinics (Chapter 9). Such analyses reveal how the implications of technologies cannot be predicted in any straightforward way, but practices and meanings of gender and technologies are negotiated, resisted and reconfigured in relations in these spaces. Overall, the book clearly fulfils its aim to bring together analysis of gender, ICTs and health care, addressing a gap in existing literature. The chapters fit coherently together, and remain relevant to the research questions above, which are also returned to and assessed in the concluding chapter. In terms of how an analysis of gender may improve understandings of the use of ICTS in health care, as argued by Green, Henwood and Balka, this analysis has highlighted more problematic aspects of the implementation and design of these technologies, which are often absent in policy discussions of the benefits of ICTs for health care. For instance, in Chapter 4 Harris discusses how the Internet can add to women’s burden of responsibility for locating and managing health information on behalf of others, rather than reducing it. Chapters 1 and 5 also illustrate how some users may resist the use of technologies for health and caring in both home and organizational settings. In terms of how an understanding of the use of technologies in health care can contribute to theorisations of gender, the chapters in this book suggest a diverse and complex relation between gender, ICTs and health. On the one hand, some chapters demonstrate the reinforcement of traditional gender divisions, such as those concerning the provision of care and responsibility for family health (Chapter 4). However, other chapters suggest a more fluid relation, for instance in chapter 3 Bella discusses how computer use was implicated in the reconfiguration of masculinities and male caring in a non-traditional way. Therefore, this book supports arguments for theories of gender and the gender-technology relation that take into account increasing complexity, alongside continuing structural divisions (e.g. Gill and Grint 1995). However, as the editors conclude, while the research in this volume makes an important contribution to addressing these questions, to provide complete answers is beyond its scope, and there remain many avenues for further development. One such topic suggested by the editors is the use of Web 2.0 applications in health care. The intersection of gender with other dimensions of identity such as class, disability, and ethnicity (discussed conceptually in chapter 7), could also be further explored in future research. In particular, interconnections between gender and age highlighted in chapters 1 and 9 warrant further attention, in the light of the lack of connection between literature on gender-technology relation and research on ICT use among older age groups. Discussion of the benefits of telecare for older people would also benefit from a more critical analysis of the gendered context in which their use is located. Exploration of such interconnections would further add to the interesting and rich examination of the relations between gender, technology and health developed in this book

Context (archaeology · Discipline · Empirical research · Epistemology · Health care · Information and Communications Technology · Political science · Public relations · Situated · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Mobile Health and mHealth Applications

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