eSelf or Computerized Self Network: A Tool for Individual Empowerment & Implementation of Optimal Healthcare

Introduction

Individual Empowerment has been known as the third revolution in medicine (Conway-Welch, 2003). Every advance, every achievement of mankind, has been connected with an advance in self-awareness (Jung,1973). Empowerment constitutesthe fundamentals of WHO’sprograms to promote health (WHO, 2010). Individual empowerment, also termed psychological empowerment, constitutessome attributes necessary for people’s capacity to be realized (Woodall et al., 2010). According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2003), a total of 88% of adults aged 16 and over do not have sufficient health literacy. A total of 80% of adults with below-the-basic health literacy skills have reported acquisition of none of their health care information from the Internet.

One of the essential and fundamental reasons causing the low degree of self-knowledge and individual health care is the absence of a strategy and planning which can provide the individuals with continuous education and information, such as doctors and other health care personnel, enabling them to be more aware of their self-knowledge (Figure 1). Each person needs to be aware of his/her psychological structure to figure out what life`s real experiences are.

Figure 1.

Educational and awareness imbalance between healthcare providers and clients

Definition Of Electronic-Self (Eself)

Electronic-Self is a computer network linking Medical Informatics Systems with Personal Informatics Systems and the Health Care Provider in clinical practice. Such a system is called E-Self because of intense connection between computerized systems and the mankind`s informatics processing capabilities of self, the internalization and externalization of Tactic Knowledge and Explicit Knowledge.

As the schematic representation (Figure 2) shows, coordination and dependence of the components of a computerized self-network including medical informatics systems (MIS) and personal informatics systems (PIS), function in a process parallel with self, under the supervision of a generalist and provides a practical model to create a parallel self in order to present information based on the needs and evidence and process this information through a shared framework.

Figure 2.

A schematic illustration of computerized self-network and its interconnected functions with MIS, PIS, self, and the generalist’s management

Fundamental Components Of A Computerized Self-Network

A computerized self-network is created through communication between intelligent personal informatics systems (IPIS) and intelligent medical informatics systems (IMIS) and interaction with a generalist within the group. The interaction between these systems is based on empowering individuals and implementation of holistic medicine inthe clinic; the whole process is under the supervision and management of the generalist, which is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Components of computerized self-network (eSelf)

Personal informatics systems (PIS) are defined as those that help people collect personally relevant information for the purpose of self-reflection and gaining self-knowledge. There are two core aspects to every personal informatics system: collection and reflection. Effective personal informatics systems help users collect the necessary personal information for insightful reflection.)Li, Dey, Forlizzi, 2010).

The main components of acomputerized self-network (CSN) or eSelf are PIS, MIS and general physicians, i.e. the CNS is the intersection of MIS,PIS and intervention and management by generalists (Figure 2).