Power to the Patient? A Critical Examination of Patient Empowerment Discourses

Abstract

It is often claimed that there is a revolution underway in health care in Western countries, with informed and empowered patients increasingly assuming the role of ‘consumers’ (Decter, 2000; UK Department of Health, 2006a). The availability of more and better information, especially from the internet, is said to diminish knowledge asymmetry between physicians and patients, thus equalising power in their interactions (see, for example, Hardey, 2001). Patient ‘empowerment’ is widely positioned as a good thing for patients because, as they become more informed, they are able to make their own health care and treatment choices (see, for example, Coulter and Magee, 2003). However, as Bella (Chapter 2) argues, the nature of this ‘health care revolution’ may be somewhat different than its advocates claim.