Clarke2007
Clarke2007 | |
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BibType | ARTICLE |
Key | Clarke2007 |
Author(s) | Karen Clarke, John Rooksby, Mark Rouncefield |
Title | "You've got to take them seriously": Meeting information needs in mental healthcare |
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Tag(s) | EMCA, Information Giving, Helplines, Medical EMCA, Mental Health |
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Year | 2007 |
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Journal | Health Informatics Journal |
Volume | 13 |
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Pages | 37-45 |
URL | Link |
DOI | 10.1177/1460458207073644 |
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Abstract
In this article we explore the practical aspects of providing mental health information over the telephone, and discuss how this may be used to inform the creation of a website. We draw from an ethnographic study of an `information and listening helpline'. By paying close attention to how the helpline operators `take seriously' their callers' problems and requests - indeed, by taking the work of the phone operators seriously - we show that the operators artfully talk, categorize and translate to help the individual caller and to satisfy organizational demands. A website is seen by the helpline in question as a logical move to providing accessible information to a wider audience. Whilst web-based and phone-based services might both appear to function along similar lines for providing information, we question how a web-based system might afford or complement the kinds of services that can be done over the telephone.
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