Working (IT) Out Together: Engaging the Community in E-Health Developments for Obesity Management

Abstract

In this chapter, we combine sociological research on the ‘e-society’ and the ‘new public health’, to offer a critique of ‘e-health discourse’. Central to this discourse is the association of greater availability of information and information and communication technologies (ICTs) with notions of patient empowerment and the ability to engage more actively in self care. Drawing on an action-oriented research project exploring and intervening in the lived experience of those seeking to manage their weight, we employ a Foucauldian notion of discourse and of knowledge/power to reflect upon the sociotechnical configurations that constitute self care in the context of obesity management.