ABSTRACT

Timely communications are important in enabling young people with long-term conditions to stay engaged with their health and manage their condition successfully. This study considers the role of digital communication in helping young people engage with services and the clinical teams providing their care. Data are drawn from 165 young people and 173 NHS staff across 20 clinical settings in the UK treating a variety of long-term conditions. Although not the focus of the main study the intersection of digital technologies and timely communication in keeping young people engaged was apparent. We drew on theories of time to understand how time was conceptualised and used in the digital communications between young people and their clinical teams. Through the lens of time we show that digital communications are valued differently by young people with long-term conditions and their clinical teams. In the current policy landscape where there is an emphasis on digital technology understanding the temporalities of different groups will help in the introduction of appropriate digital communications channels. Done well digital communications have the potential to improve young patients’ autonomy but this must be balanced with the needs of clinical teams, particularly loss of control over work patterns.

摘要

及时的沟通对于使患有长期疾病的年轻人能够继续关注他们的健康并成功管理他们的疾病非常重要。这项研究考虑了数字通信在帮助年轻人参与服务和提供护理的临床团队中的作用。数据来自英国 20 个临床环境中的 165 名年轻人和 173 名 NHS 工作人员，他们治疗各种长期疾病。虽然不是主要研究的重点，但数字技术和及时沟通在保持年轻人参与方面的交叉是显而易见的。我们利用时间理论来了解时间是如何被概念化并用于年轻人与其临床团队之间的数字通信的。从时间的角度来看，我们表明，患有长期疾病的年轻人及其临床团队对数字通信的重视程度不同。在当前强调数字技术的政策环境中，了解不同群体的时间性将有助于引入适当的数字通信渠道。做得好的数字通信有可能提高年轻患者的自主权，但这必须与临床团队的需求相平衡，特别是失去对工作模式的控制。