Scandinavian Online Cancer Information as Expressions of Governmentality: A Comparative Qualitative Study
Elin Margrethe Aasen1, Berit Misund Dahl, Aase Marie Ottesen
1Department of Health Sciences in Aalesund, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Ålesund, Norway (Drs Aasen, Dahl, and Dahlborg and Ms Vestgarden); Department of Health Sciences, University West, Trollhattan, Sweden (Drs Erikson, Dahlborg, Boman, and Tengelin); Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark (Drs Ottesen and Strunck); and Department of Health Sciences, Rehabilitation Science, Mid Sweden University, Sweden (Dr Tengelin).
Abstract:
We compared online distributed information provided to patients with cancer in Scandinavian countries through the lens of governmentality. A secondary comparative qualitative analysis was conducted. Discourses in online patient information showed differences in governmentality techniques across the countries: Norway used a paternalist approach, Denmark an educative approach, and Sweden an individualistic approach and expected the patients to make the "right" decisions. Online information for patients with cancer in Denmark and Norway showed high professional and health care system involvement, whereas in Sweden, there was high patient involvement. There was almost no use of the person-centered approach among the online discourses.
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