The rise of digital health technologies is, for some, a panacea to many
of the medical and public health challenges we face today. This is the
first book to articulate a critical response to the techno-utopian and
entrepreneurial vision of the digital health phenomenon. Deborah Lupton,
internationally renowned for her scholarship on the sociocultural and
political aspects of medicine and health as well as digital
technologies, addresses a range of compelling issues about the interests
digital health represents, and its unintended effects on patients,
doctors and how we conceive of public health and healthcare delivery.
Bringing together social and cultural theory with empirical research,
the book challenges apolitical approaches to examine the impact new
technologies have on social justice, and the implication for social and
economic inequalities. Lupton considers how self-tracking devices change
the patient-doctor relationship, and how the digitisation and
gamification of healthcare through apps and other software affects the
way we perceive and respond to our bodies. She asks which commercial
interests enable different groups to communicate more widely, and how
the personal data generated from digital encounters are exploited.
Considering the lived experience of digital health technologies,
including their emotional and sensory dimensions, the book also assesses
their broader impact on medical and public health knowledges, power
relations and work practices.
Relevant to students and researchers interested in medicine and public
health across sociology, psychology, anthropology, new media and
cultural studies, as well as policy makers and professionals in the
field, this is a timely contribution on an important issue.
