Copyright Idea Group Inc. Copyright Idea Group Inc. Copyright Idea Group Inc. Copyright Idea Group Inc. A Web-Based Solution for Enhancing Diabetic Well-Being 205 Chapter XIV A Web-Based Solution for Enhancing Diabetic Well-Being Riitta Söderlund and Pekka Reijonen University of Turku/Laboris Malin Brännback Turku School of Economics and Business Administration/Innomarket Unit INTRODUCTION In most Western countries, healthcare systems are in economic crisis. It is not possible to increase available resources, but at the same time, there is a growing demand for publicly funded healthcare services, e.g., because the number of aged people is rising. To solve this problem, countries can either increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their present healthcare activities and/or decrease public demand. Public demand can be controlled by raising user charges for publicly funded services, redefining those services, encouraging self-care, and/or subsidizing services that are privately financed. However, so far there are not many countries that encourage self-care in order to control demand, but it is considered one possibility with strong future potential (Moore, 1996). Self-care means shared respon- sibility in healthcare. The formal system is no longer the only institution that is responsible for individuals’ health status; individuals must also take care of their own health. One of the most widely used methods for encouraging self-care is providing and sharing knowledge (Smee, 1997). One way to enhance knowledge sharing and thus one possible way to increase the efficiency of activities in healthcare is the exploitation of information technology (IT). As Tapscott (1996) has envisioned, healthcare may be one of the primary beneficiaries from the new information technology-based networked economy. However, so far IT has provided only the infrastructure for telemedicine, expert systems, and multimedia, which have supported doctors in making diagnoses, and for databases, which have been efficient platforms for patient records, and thus, IT has mainly supported healthcare personnel and governmental institutions (e.g., Griep et al., 1996; Iakovidis, 1998; Kalra, 1996). Apart from improving the infrastructure enabling the integration of the various stakeholders within healthcare, we need IT-based tools to support and activate the individual patient. These tools This chapter appears in the book, Managing Healthcare Information Systems with Web-Enabled Technologies, edited by Lauren B. Eder. Copyright © 2000, Idea Group Inc. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB8513 IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING