A Sociological Perspective on Digital Health Deborah Lupton, News & Media Research Centre, Faculty of Arts & Design, University of Canberra
Critical digital health studies: a research agenda … Challenging techno-utopia and solutionism Identifying the social, cultural, political and ethical implications of digital health technologies
critical digital health science and technology studies medical sociology surveillance studies sensory studies digital sociology critical data studies
Contributors to digital health cultures digital health cultures contemporary concepts of selfhood neoliberalism + self- responsibility digital tech affordances digital knowledge economy appropriation + repurposing of personal data
Research topics How do the news media cover digital health topics? What websites, platforms, social media sites, devices and apps are valued for health-related information, medical practice or patient support? Personal data and big data: How do people collect, make sense of and use their data? How do other actors and agencies use their data?
Research topics What are the lived experiences of people using digital health technologies? How are professional practices in medicine and public health mediated or configured via digital health tech? How are concepts of the body, health and illness conceptualised and interpreted via digital health tech?
Research topics What are the political dimensions and power relations inherent in the use of digital health technologies? How will sociocultural disadvantage be remediated or exacerbated? What are the implications for how people conduct their everyday lives and social relationships?
My current digital health projects New book: Digital Health: Critical Perspectives (Routledge) Digitised pregnancy and early parenting Digital tech in PE and health in schools 3D-printing technologies in health and medicine Fitness self-tracking Editing special issues on 1) sociology of health and medical self-tracking; 2) body weight and digital health; 3) the senses and digital health