Project REPOSE

E-Health & Connected Patient

About the Project

REPOSE studies the effect of connected health and virtual patient communities on the perceived quality of the patient-physician relationship and patient adherence to treatment.

Peer-to-peer online patient communities (CPELs in French) are increasingly being used by patients to gather medical information and psychological support. It is estimated that 18% of Internet users and 13% of adults are active in these communities, representing 50 million people in the United States (PewResearchCenter, 2016). In Canada, 74% of adults searched online for health information (2015). In France, the trend is similar. It has also been shown that 70% of patient interactions on the Internet influence the health decisions of Internet users. CPELs stand today as an essential tool, especially for patients with chronic pathologies: the majority of them to manage their daily illness seek in priority information on these CPEL, rather than the medical core.

Interesting tool to assist the patient in a context of spending restraint, CPELs are still studied little, despite the strong interest they represent for health systems. In particular, the impact of active participation in these communities on 1) the quality perceived by the patient of the relationship he has with his /her  doctor and 2) the patient's adherence to the treatment prescribed by the doctor is unknown. The World Health Organization estimates that 50% of patients do not adhere to their prescriptions. The main reason is that patients do not trust their doctor and therefore would not engage in the relationship they have with them.

The objective of REPOSE is to study the effect of active participation in CPELs on the quality perceived by the patient of the relationship he has with his doctor, operationalized by three variables: trust, commitment and patient satisfaction. REPOSE team will also examine the effect of this participation on the patient's adherence to the treatment recommended by his / her doctor, as well as the causal relationships between the main variables.