ICT: Health’s best friend and worst enemy?

Abstract

I propose a paradigm shift for health care, as there is an urgent need for i) continuous (semi-)automatic medical checkups, ii) cost reduction, and iii) cure for the 21st century black plague (i.e., stress-related diseases) are very much needed. To realize this ICT’s Paradox has to be solved. On the one hand, ICT can cause i) musculoskeletal problems, ii) vision problems, iii) headache, iv) obesity, v) stress disorders (e.g., burn out), vi) metabolic issues, vii) addiction (e.g., to games, social media, and Internet), viii) sleeping problems, ix) social isolation, and x) an unrealistic world view. On the other hand, ICT claims to provide these problems’ solutions. Consequently, health informatics needs to adopt a holistic approach, improve its fragile theoretical frameworks, and handle the incredible variance we all show. As a remedy, I propose to take up the challenge to next-generation models of personality, as they are a crucial determinant in people’s stress coping style.