The Challenges of Internet-based Interactive Health Communication (IHC) Applications－A Discussion Based on American Experience

[[abstract]]With the emergence of the Internet-based interactive health communication(IHC), people in the U.S. now can anonymously and electronically gain access to information, solicit physicians’ suggestions, find emotional support, maintain health behavior, and make health-related decisions. However, the applications of IHC also raise concerns regarding the lack of accessibility, user-friendliness, readability, accuracy, credibility, and privacy. Based on these experiences, this paper suggests that information providers should make efforts to reduce information divide, create user-friendly Web sites, provide readable materials, supply accurate and credible content, and ensure health-related information seekers’ privacy. On the other hand, health-related information seekers should know how to evaluate the IHC applications to choose those, which are most likely to be useful and beneficial to them. Only when health-related information providers provide a preferred future of Internet-based IHC and health-related information seekers know how to evaluate and to benefit from the applications of IHC, will IHC lead to desired health outcomes