Why “Information Therapy”? The Words We Choose
By Josh Seidman | Popularity: 9%I know that some people have been put off by the term “information therapy” and–to a lesser extent–our shorthand for it, “Ix.” An article from HealthDay and on MedicineNet.com, “The ‘Net: A Tangled Web of Health Information,” brought up some recurring themes that go to our rationale for the terminology.
Just like medications or other treatments, information can be powerful medicine–if used correctly. The premise of the HealthDay article is that the “dizzying amount of information” on the Web can cause “overload–or worse,” if you make use of bad information.
Actually, this is no different than proven medications–there are many corollaries between medications and information, which is why talk about “Ix” similarly to how “Rx” is commonly used. Just because aspirin might reduce pain, swelling and prevent heart attacks, doesn’t mean that consumers should take a whole bottle of them.
That information overload described in the article mentioned above can also be thought of as an “overdose.” Similarly, getting the wrong or inaccurate information can lead to negative “side effects.” In fact, we need to figure out the appropriate dose, frequency and duration of the information that individuals need to make better health decisions and lead healthier lives.
That is not at all to say that information should be available “by prescription only.” On the contrary, our formal definition includes the “prescription and availability,” specifically to make room “over-the-counter” access to the right health information.
The question is: How do you actually make that happen? That’s the mission of the Center for Information Therapy and will be the topic of our 7th Annual Ix Conference, “WIxRED: Next-Generation Patient-Centered Care.” I hope you’ll join us on June 12-13 to explore these strategies–and, if you register by tomorrow, you can still get $200 of the regular registration fee.
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